JP3605264B2 - Inter-vehicle distance control device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an inter-vehicle distance control device that drives a host vehicle while maintaining a target inter-vehicle distance with a preceding vehicle.
[0002]
Problems to be solved by the prior art and the invention
Conventionally, with the aim of reducing the operation burden for driver acceleration and deceleration, the behavior of the preceding vehicle is recognized using a laser radar, etc., and the own vehicle speed is automatically changed based on that information. An inter-vehicle distance control device that attempts to automatically follow a preceding vehicle has been proposed.
[0003]
However, in the conventional control, no consideration has been given to the situation such as whether the vehicle is running during the day or at night. Therefore, even at night, when the visibility is poor compared to daytime and it is difficult to judge the surrounding conditions, the inter-vehicle distance control device attempts to automatically follow the preceding vehicle while maintaining the same inter-vehicle distance as during daytime. Therefore, a driver who has poor visibility compared to daytime and finds it difficult to judge the surrounding situation may have a feeling that the inter-vehicle distance is too short and scary. That is, it does not match the driver's feeling.
[0004]
In this way, the situation that “the visibility is poor and it is difficult to judge the surrounding situation” is not limited to the distinction from the viewpoint of time such as nighttime. It is also caused by the surrounding environment such as cloudy weather.
Further, in a state in which fog is generated, the above-mentioned situation in which the visibility is poor and it is difficult to determine the surrounding situation becomes more remarkable. In this case, it is considered that it is actually preferable to cancel the inter-vehicle distance control. However, the conventional inter-vehicle distance control device has been devised to temporarily release the execution of the control when the driver operates the brake or the clutch, but such a fog state is not considered. Was. When the brake or the clutch is operated, the driver intentionally performs the operation. For example, it is not possible to cope with a case where fog is generated without the driver's awareness.
[0005]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an inter-vehicle distance control device capable of executing an appropriate inter-vehicle distance control according to the degree of an environment where visibility is poor and it is difficult to determine the surrounding situation. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a preceding vehicle information detecting means for detecting an inter-vehicle distance and a relative speed with a preceding vehicle, a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a speed of the own vehicle, An acceleration unit and a deceleration unit that can be operated independently of an acceleration operation and a braking operation by hand; and a drive control of the acceleration unit and the deceleration unit based on the detection results of the preceding vehicle information detection unit and the vehicle speed detection unit. Inter-vehicle distance control means for performing inter-vehicle distance control for driving the own vehicle while maintaining the inter-vehicle distance; lighting state detecting means for detecting whether or not a sign light or an illumination light is lit; and Alternatively, when the lighting of the illumination lamp is detected, an inter-vehicle distance extension control means for setting the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than usual, and a predetermined twilight state and a nighttime state based on the degree of brightness around the vehicle. Ambient state detecting means for detecting the twilight state is automatically turned on when the twilight state is detected by the surrounding state detecting means, and when the night state is detected by the surrounding state detecting means, Is a lighting automatic control means for automatically turning on the illuminating light, a light-off mode operated by a driver to turn off both the illuminating light and the marker light, a marker light mode for illuminating the marker light, and the illuminating light Mode selection means for selecting any one of an illumination mode for turning on and an automatic lighting mode for executing automatic lighting control by the automatic lighting control means, and the extinguishing mode is set by the mode selection means. With it selected,Performing detection of a predetermined twilight state and a night state by the surrounding state detection means,When the twilight state or the night state is detected by the surrounding state detection means, the vehicle-distance extension control means in a light-off mode for setting the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than usual, and the inter-vehicle distance extension control Means for normally setting the target inter-vehicle distance when the lighting state detecting means detects the lighting of the marker light or the illuminating light in a state in which a mode other than the light extinguishing mode is selected by the mode selecting means. It is characterized in that it is configured to be set longer.
[0007]
Here, the sign light is mainly used for (a driver of) another vehicle as represented by a tail lamp for displaying the presence of the own vehicle behind the vehicle at night or the positional relationship between the other vehicles with respect to the other vehicle. This is a lighting device that performs the function of signing the vehicle. In addition, the illuminating light is mainly used when the driver's own vehicle travels, as represented by a headlamp for illuminating an obstacle ahead when the vehicle travels at night, for example. It is a lighting device for checking.
[0008]
According to the inter-vehicle distance control device according to the first aspect, the inter-vehicle distance control for driving the own vehicle while maintaining the target inter-vehicle distance is performed. If it is detected, and the lighting of the marker light or the illumination light is detected, the inter-vehicle distance extension control means sets the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than usual. It is presumed that the situation in which the marker light or the illuminating light is turned on is a situation in which visibility is poor and it is difficult to determine the surrounding situation, such as at night or in a tunnel. In that case, if you try to automatically follow the preceding vehicle while maintaining the same inter-vehicle distance as in a situation where visibility is good and the surrounding situation is easy to determine in the daytime, etc., the visibility is poor compared to daytime and it is difficult to judge the surrounding situation For the driver who feels that the distance between the vehicles is too short, there is a possibility that the driver may feel scared, so the target vehicle distance is set longer than usual. This makes it possible to execute inter-vehicle distance control that matches the driver's feeling.
Further, when the light-off mode is selected, the target inter-vehicle distance is set to be longer than usual by the light-off mode inter-vehicle distance extension control means. When a mode other than the light-off mode is selected, the target inter-vehicle distance extension control means sets the target inter-vehicle distance. The inter-vehicle distance is set longer than usual. Therefore, no matter what mode is selected, it is possible to execute inter-vehicle distance control that matches the driver's feeling.
In addition, the lighting state detecting means detects the presence or absence of lighting of the marker lamp or the lighting lamp. This may be performed by grasping the presence or absence of lighting from the state of the marker lamp or the lighting lamp itself, or a general method. In the case of automobiles, switches for turning them on and off are arranged around the steering wheel, so that the switches may be indirectly grasped based on the state of the switches (in which position they are).
[0016]
In general, it is generally recognized that the tail lamp is turned on when the head lamp is not turned on, such as in a so-called "dusk state", and the head lamp is turned on when it becomes darker and becomes a so-called "night state". It is. Therefore, it is estimated that the visibility is poor and the degree of difficulty in determining the surrounding situation is greater when the head lamp is lit than when only the tail lamp is lit.
[0022]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a system block diagram of an auto cruise control device 1 to which the present invention is applied. The auto cruise control device 1 is a device configured to execute control for maintaining an appropriate inter-vehicle distance when a preceding vehicle is caught during constant speed traveling control.
[0023]
The auto cruise control device 1 is mainly composed of a computer 4, and includes a scanning range finder 6, a steering angle sensor 8, a vehicle speed sensor 10, a cruise control switch 12, an operation detection switch 13 for detecting a driver's operation, and a display unit 14. , A control light scanner 15, a head lamp relay 16, a tail lamp relay 17, a brake control unit 18, a wiper drive control unit 19, and an engine output control unit 20. In the above-described configuration, the light control switch 13c and the fog lamp switch 13d, the conlite scanner 15, the head lamp relay 16 and the tail lamp relay 17 of the driver operation detection switch 13, which will be described later, perform auto cruise control (including inter-vehicle distance control). ) Is used even in a situation unrelated to the above, but here, control is performed to change the content of the following distance control or cancel the control itself according to the detection result of the light control switch 13c or the fog lamp switch 13d. Therefore, description will be made as a component of the auto cruise control device 1.
[0024]
The computer 4 includes an input / output interface (I / O) and various drive circuits and detection circuits. Since these hardware configurations are general, detailed description will be omitted. Note that the computer 4 performs a constant-speed running control for maintaining the vehicle speed at the set speed when the preceding vehicle is not detected, in addition to the inter-vehicle distance control described in the present embodiment.
[0025]
Here, the scanning distance measuring device 6 constitutes a part of the preceding vehicle information detecting means, and includes a transmitting / receiving section 6a and a distance / angle calculating section 6b. Is output while scanning in a range of a predetermined angle, and the reflected light is detected, and based on the time until the reflected light is captured by the distance / angle calculation unit 6b, the relative speed and distance of the object in front, and further, It is a device that also detects the position coordinates. Such a device is already well-known, and thus a detailed description is omitted. Note that, other than the one using the scanning laser light, a distance measuring device using an electric wave such as a microwave, an ultrasonic wave, or the like may be used.
[0026]
The steering angle sensor 8 detects a change amount of the steering angle of the steering wheel, and can detect a relative steering angle from the value. Therefore, when the power of the auto cruise control device 1 is turned on, the steering angle storage address in the memory is set to “0”, and thereafter, the deviation of the neutral position of the steering angle is determined by the steering angle data during traveling. The relative steering angle is determined by integrating the detected steering angle change amounts while correcting by the average value calculation. Based on the steering angle, it is possible to detect data (curve data) relating to the turning state of the own vehicle such as the turning direction and the turning radius of the own vehicle. The curve data is used when determining whether or not the preceding vehicle detected by the scanning distance measuring device 6 is subject to the following distance control. More specifically, when the own vehicle is turning right, the preceding vehicle captured on the left side of the center of the ranging range is determined to be a vehicle in another lane, and this is excluded from the target of the inter-vehicle distance control. In other words, it is used to grasp the preceding vehicle captured on the right side as an object of the following distance control. In other words, the curve data is data necessary for grasping the traveling direction of the own vehicle and identifying the preceding vehicle existing in the traveling direction of the own vehicle.
[0027]
The vehicle speed sensor 10 is a sensor that detects a signal corresponding to the rotation speed of a wheel.
On the other hand, the cruise control switch 12 includes a main switch 12a, a set switch 12b, a resume switch 12c, a cancel switch 12d, and a tap switch 12e. The role of each switch will be described in order.
[0028]
First, the main switch 12a is a switch for setting a state in which cruise control can be started. When the main switch 12a is turned on, a state in which constant-speed traveling control can be started is set. The inter-vehicle distance control process is also executed in the constant speed traveling control.
[0029]
The set switch 12b is a switch that, when depressed, takes in the vehicle speed Vn at that time, sets the vehicle speed Vn to the target vehicle speed Vm, and starts constant speed traveling control.
The resume switch 12c is for restoring the vehicle speed from the current vehicle speed to the target vehicle speed Vm when the target vehicle speed Vm is stored while the cruise control is released and the target vehicle speed Vm is stored.
[0030]
The cancel switch 12d stops the constant-speed running control when the switch is pressed during the cruise control.
The tap switch 12e is for setting the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle.
On the other hand, the operation detection switch 13 detects a driver's manual operation, and includes a brake switch 13a for detecting a manual operation of a foot brake, an exhaust brake, and a retarding device, and an accelerator switch 13b for detecting an accelerator operation. A light control switch 13c for detecting the control mode of the lighting equipment, and a fog lamp switch 13d for detecting the control mode of the fog lamp. In the case of a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, a clutch switch for detecting a shift-up or shift-down operation of a clutch is also included. Here, a vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission is targeted.
[0031]
The positions of the operation unit detected by the above-described light control switch 13c include (1) an unlit (OFF) mode, (2) a tail (TAIL) mode, (3) a head (HEAD) mode, and (4) an auto ( AUTO) mode. In addition, the position of the operation unit detected by the fog lamp switch 13d has only two modes of turning on and off, and detects which is selected.
[0032]
The display 14 can display a set vehicle speed, a current inter-vehicle distance, a sensor abnormality, and the like.
The headlamp relay 16 and the taillamp relay 17 turn on and off a headlamp as an "illumination light" and a taillamp as a "marker light", respectively, according to an instruction from the computer 4 or an instruction from the light scanner 15. , When the relay is turned on, it is turned on, and when it is turned off, it is turned off. With the above-mentioned light control switch 13c, one of four modes of (1) off mode, (2) tail mode, (3) head mode, and (4) auto mode is selected. If selected, the computer 4 performs control to turn off both the headlamp relay 16 and the taillamp relay 17. When the tail mode is selected, the computer 4 controls the head lamp relay 16 to be OFF and the tail lamp relay 17 to be ON. When the head mode is selected, the computer 4 controls the head lamp relay 16 and the tail lamp. Control is performed to turn on both the relays 17. If the auto mode is selected, the computer 4 does not control the head lamp relay 16 and the tail lamp relay 17, and the control scanner 15 controls the relays 16 and 17 to be turned on and off.
[0033]
The conlight scanner 15 includes a scanner unit (photodiode) 15a for detecting the degree of light and shade, and a conlight relay 15b for controlling the head lamp relay 16 and the tail lamp relay 17. The scanner unit 15a includes a twilight detection circuit that detects that the surrounding brightness is in a predetermined twilight state and a night detection circuit that detects that the surrounding brightness is in a predetermined night state. The relay 15b controls the head lamp relay 16 and the tail lamp relay 17 based on the detection results of the dusk detection circuit and the night detection circuit.
[0034]
The control of the lighting relay 15b will be specifically described. A lighting illuminance L1 and a turning-off illuminance L2 of the twilight detection circuit and a lighting illuminance L3 and a turning-off illuminance L4 of the night detection circuit are set, and these have a relationship of L3 <L1 <L4 <L2. When the detected illuminance LK indicating the surrounding brightness is larger than the unlit illuminance L2 of the twilight detection circuit and the unlit illuminance L4 of the night detection circuit, both the headlamp relay 16 and the tail lamp relay 17 are turned off. When the surrounding brightness becomes dim and is smaller than the lighting illuminance L1 of the twilight detection circuit but larger than the lighting illuminance L3 of the night detection circuit (L3 <LK <L2), the head lamp relay 16 remains OFF but the tail lamp relay 17 is turned ON. Then, when it becomes darker and becomes smaller than the lighting illuminance L3 of the night detection circuit (LK <L3), the head lamp relay 16 is also turned on.
[0035]
As described above, when the light control switch 13c detects the auto mode, the light scanner 15 turns on only the tail lamp if the ambient illuminance LK corresponds to the twilight state, and the ambient illuminance LK Is automatically controlled to turn on the headlamp if the illuminance corresponds to the nighttime state.
[0036]
On the other hand, the engine output control unit 20 adjusts the relativity of the throttle valve in the case of a gasoline-type internal combustion engine and adjusts the position of the control rack in the case of a diesel-type internal combustion engine according to instructions from the computer 4. Also for controlling the speed by adjusting the engine output. It should be noted that the gear position of the automatic transmission may be selected to adjust the engine output.
[0037]
The brake controller 18 adjusts the pressure of each wheel cylinder according to an instruction from the computer 4. The brake control may be performed by an exhaust brake or a retarding device that is widely used in large vehicles.
The computer 4 includes a power switch (not shown), and is configured to be supplied with power by an ON operation thereof and start a predetermined process.
[0038]
With such a configuration, the computer 4 executes a process as an auto cruise control device and a constant speed traveling control process.
FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a process for controlling the inter-vehicle distance and canceling the control in the control logic of the computer 4.
[0039]
The inter-vehicle distance control (S10) instructs deceleration when approaching the preceding vehicle, and conversely, instructs acceleration when the vehicle is lagging behind, so as to maintain an appropriate inter-vehicle distance with respect to the preceding vehicle. Execute control. The details of this inter-vehicle distance control will be described later.
[0040]
In this way, it is determined whether or not the driver has performed the brake operation under the condition that the following distance control is being executed (S20). When the driver operates the brake to turn on the brake switch 13a (S20: YES), the process proceeds to S40, and the inter-vehicle distance control is released.
[0041]
On the other hand, when the brake switch 13a is not ON (S20: NO), the process proceeds to S30, and it is determined whether the fog lamp switch 13d is turned ON. If the fog light switch 13d is not ON (S30: NO), the inter-vehicle distance control in S10 is continued, but if the fog light switch 13d is ON (S30: YES), the process proceeds to S40 and the inter-vehicle distance. The control is released.
[0042]
Next, the specific contents of the following distance control in S10 of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In this inter-vehicle distance control, first, an appropriate target inter-vehicle distance with respect to the preceding vehicle is calculated from the traveling state of the preceding vehicle and the speed of the own vehicle (S110). The details of the target inter-vehicle distance calculation processing will be described later.
[0043]
Next, an acceleration / deceleration of the own vehicle for obtaining an appropriate inter-vehicle distance is calculated (S120), and a target vehicle speed is calculated by integrating the acceleration / deceleration (S130).
Then, the actual vehicle speed is compared with the target vehicle speed (S140), and if the actual vehicle speed <the target vehicle speed, an acceleration command is output to the engine output control unit 20 (S150). On the other hand, if the actual vehicle speed is greater than the target vehicle speed, a deceleration command is output to the brake control unit 18 (S160). If the actual vehicle speed is equal to the target vehicle speed, no acceleration / deceleration command is issued.
[0044]
Next, the specific content of the target inter-vehicle distance calculation in S110 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. However, in the present embodiment, before the target inter-vehicle distance is obtained, the target inter-vehicle time is obtained, and then the target inter-vehicle distance is obtained by multiplying the target speed by the vehicle speed. The inter-vehicle time is a value obtained by dividing the inter-vehicle distance by the vehicle speed.
[0045]
First, it is determined whether or not the initial operation is being performed (S1010). “Initial” means the timing when this processing is first executed after the power is turned on.
First, an affirmative determination is made in step S1010, and an initial value T0 is set as the target inter-vehicle time TH (S1020). For example, “2.5 seconds” is set as the initial value T0.
[0046]
If a negative determination is made in step S1010, or after the processing in step S1020, the position of the operation unit (hereinafter abbreviated as “SW position”) detected by the light control switch 13c is in a tail (TAIL) mode. Is determined (S1030). If a negative determination is made in step S1030, it is determined whether the SW position is in the head (HEAD) mode (S1040).
[0047]
If the SW position is in the tail mode, an affirmative determination is made in step S1030, and a process of increasing the target inter-vehicle time TH is performed as in the following equation (S1070).
TH → TH + 0.1 (sec)
On the other hand, if the SW position is in the head mode, an affirmative determination is made in step S1040, and a process of increasing the target inter-vehicle time TH is performed as in the following equation (S1080).
[0048]
TH → TH + 0.2 (sec)
When a negative determination is made in S1040, the process shifts to S1090 to determine whether or not it is in a twilight state. Further, if a negative determination is made in step S1090, the process shifts to S1100 to determine whether or not the vehicle is in the night state (S1100).
[0049]
The determinations in S1090 and S1100 are executed based on the detection result from the scanner unit 15a (see FIG. 1) of the above-described conlite scanner 15. The computer 4 uses the detection result from the scanner unit 15a to calculate the target inter-vehicle distance.
[0050]
If it is a twilight state, an affirmative determination is made in step S1090, and a process of increasing the target inter-vehicle time TH is performed as in the following equation (S1110).
TH → TH + 0.1 (sec)
On the other hand, if it is a night state, an affirmative determination is made in step S1100, and the target inter-vehicle time TH is increased according to the following equation (S1120).
[0051]
TH → TH + 0.2 (sec)
When the target inter-vehicle time TH is set in this way (S1070, S1080, S1110, S1120), the target inter-vehicle time TH is converted into the target inter-vehicle distance Dt by the own vehicle speed Vn as in the following equation (S1060). ).
[0052]
Dt ← TH × Vn
When a negative determination is made in S1050, that is, when the SW position is in the light-off (OFF) mode, the process of increasing the target inter-vehicle time TH is not performed, and the previous value is used as it is. It is converted into the inter-vehicle distance Dt.
[0053]
By the way, if a negative determination is made in S1040, the SW position is either the light-off mode or the auto mode. In the automatic mode, in the light scanner 15, the light relay 15b controls the head lamp relay 16 and the tail lamp relay 17 based on the ambient illuminance detected by the scanner unit 15a. Therefore, the detection result from the scanner unit 15a is used for this control and is also used for the determination in S1090 and S1100. On the other hand, when the SW position is in the light-off mode, the control of the headlight relay 16 and the taillight relay 17 by the lighting relay 15b is not executed. Is determined.
[0054]
As described above, according to the inter-vehicle distance control by the present auto-cruise control device 1, the inter-vehicle distance control for driving the own vehicle while maintaining the target inter-vehicle distance is executed. Is determined indirectly based on the SW position of the light control switch 13c, and if it is lit, the target inter-vehicle distance is set longer than usual. In the present embodiment, the process for increasing the target inter-vehicle time TH is performed, and is converted into the target inter-vehicle distance Dt. As a result, the inter-vehicle distance is extended.
[0055]
It is presumed that the situation in which the tail lamp or the headlamp is turned on is a situation in which visibility is poor and it is difficult to determine the surrounding situation, such as at night or in a tunnel. In that case, if you try to automatically follow the preceding vehicle while maintaining the same inter-vehicle distance as in a situation where visibility is good and the surrounding situation is easy to determine in the daytime, etc., the visibility is poor compared to daytime and it is difficult to judge the surrounding situation The driver may feel that the inter-vehicle distance is too short and may feel scary, so the target inter-vehicle time TH is set longer than usual. This makes it possible to execute inter-vehicle distance control that matches the driver's feeling.
[0056]
In addition, the provision of the contrast light scanner 15 enables the tail lamp to be automatically turned on when the twilight state is detected based on the illuminance LK around the vehicle detected by the scanner unit 15a when the SW position of the light control switch 13c is in the auto mode. It is possible to perform automatic lighting control for automatically lighting the headlights and automatically lighting up to the headlamp when a night state is detected. Therefore, in the present embodiment, not only when the SW position of the light control switch 13c is in the auto mode but also in the extinguishing mode in which both the head lamp and the tail lamp remain extinguished, in the present embodiment, When the night state is detected (S1090: YES, S1100: YES), the target inter-vehicle time TH is set longer than usual (S1110, S1120).
[0057]
In the light-off mode, the head lamp and the tail lamp are not turned on, but even if they are not turned on, if the twilight state or night state is detected, the visibility is still poor and it is difficult to judge the surrounding situation. Thus, by setting the target inter-vehicle distance longer than usual, it is possible to execute inter-vehicle distance control that matches the driver's feeling.
[0058]
That is, when the SW position of the light control switch 13c is the tail mode or the head mode, the head lamp or the tail lamp is turned on according to the mode when the SW position is the auto mode or the extinguishing mode when the SW position is the auto mode or the extinguishing mode. In any situation, the above-described automatic extension control of the following distance can be executed. In particular, in the case of the extinguishing mode, since the head lamp and the tail lamp are not actually turned on, control based on the lighting state of the lamp itself cannot be executed. However, even in the non-lighting mode, it is assumed that the visibility is actually low and it is difficult to determine the surrounding conditions. Regarding this point also, in the case of the present embodiment, even if the SW position is in the light-off mode, the processing of S1090 to S1120 is executed, so that the automatic extension control of the inter-vehicle distance can also be executed according to the surrounding illuminance. .
[0059]
In the case of the present embodiment, the SW position is in the head mode (S1040: YES), compared with the case where the SW position is in the tail mode (S1030: YES) or the case where it is determined that the vehicle is in the twilight state (S1090: YES). (YES) or when it is determined that the vehicle is in the nighttime state (S1100: YES), the increase in the target inter-vehicle time TH is increased, and as a result, the target inter-vehicle distance Dt is extended.
This is based on the general recognition that only the tail lamp is turned on in the twilight state, which is not enough to turn on the headlamp, and that the headlamp is turned on when it becomes darker and becomes nighttime. In other words, it is estimated that the visibility is poor and the degree of difficulty in judging the surrounding situation is larger when the head lamp is lit than when only the tail lamp is lit. Was gradually extended. In this way, it is possible to realize traveling while maintaining an appropriate inter-vehicle distance in accordance with the degree of difficulty in judging the surroundings due to poor visibility, which more matches the driver's feeling.
[0060]
In the present embodiment, when the fog lamp is turned on (S30 in FIG. 2: YES), the inter-vehicle distance control itself is canceled (S40 in FIG. 2). This is presumed to be a state in which visibility is degraded due to fog caused by lighting of fog lamps, but in the state where fog is generated, it is considered that visibility is quite bad and it is difficult to judge the surrounding situation, so it is considered that it is difficult to judge the surrounding situation This is a control from the viewpoint that it is preferable to cancel the inter-vehicle distance control. Due to the nature of the fog, it is assumed that even if the headlamps and the like are turned on, the visibility is considerably poor and the surrounding conditions are difficult to judge. Considering that there is a possibility of erroneous recognition, it is considered that this is preferable.
[0061]
The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, four modes are detected by the light control switch 13c. That is, in addition to the control of turning on only the tail lamp or the head lamp in response to the driver's operation, the provision of the conlite scanner 15 allows the driver to automatically operate the tail lamp or the tail lamp without having to operate each time. Although the control for turning on and off the headlamps is also executed, a vehicle without such an auto mode may be used.
[0062]
In the above-described embodiment, 0.1 seconds or 0.2 seconds are added to the target inter-vehicle time TH in the processing of S1070, S1080, S1110, and S1120 in FIG. May be set to a predetermined upper limit guard value.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a control flowchart according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a control flowchart according to the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a control flowchart according to the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1. Auto cruise control device 4. Computer
6: Scanning distance measuring instrument 6a: Transmitter / receiver
6b: distance / angle calculator 8: steering angle sensor
10 Vehicle speed sensor 12 Cruise control switch
13: Operation detection switch 13a: Brake switch
13c: Light control switch 13c: Fog light switch
14 ... Display 15 ... Conlight scanner
15a: Scanner unit 15b: Lighting relay
16 ... Head lamp relay 17 ... Tail lamp relay
18 Brake control unit 20 Engine output control unit

Claims (1)

Preceding vehicle information detecting means for detecting an inter-vehicle distance and a relative speed with a preceding vehicle;
Vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the speed of the vehicle,
Acceleration means and deceleration means which can be operated independently of acceleration and braking operations by the driver;
An inter-vehicle distance control that performs inter-vehicle distance control for driving the own vehicle while maintaining a target inter-vehicle distance by controlling the driving of the acceleration unit and the deceleration unit based on the detection results of the preceding vehicle information detection unit and the vehicle speed detection unit. Means,
Lighting state detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of lighting of a marker light or an illumination light,
An inter-vehicle distance extension control unit that sets the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than usual when the lighting of the marker lamp or the illumination lamp is detected by the lighting state detection unit;
Ambient condition detecting means for detecting a predetermined twilight state and a night state based on the degree of brightness around the vehicle;
When the twilight state is detected by the surrounding state detecting means, the marker light is automatically turned on, and when the night state is detected by the surrounding state detecting means, the illuminating light is automatically turned on. Lighting automatic control means for causing
A lighting operation mode operated by a driver to turn off both the illumination lamp and the marker light, a marker lamp mode for lighting the marker lamp, an illumination lamp mode for lighting the illumination lamp, and automatic lighting control by the automatic lighting controller. Mode selection means for selecting any one of the automatic lighting modes for executing
In a state in which the light- off mode is selected by the mode selection means, a predetermined twilight state and a night state are detected by the surrounding state detecting means, and the twilight state or the night state is detected by the surrounding state detecting means. In the case of, the target inter-vehicle distance is set to be longer than usual, a light-off mode inter-vehicle distance extension control means,
With,
The inter-vehicle distance extension control means, when a mode other than the extinguishing mode is selected by the mode selecting means, and when the lighting of the marker light or the illuminating light is detected by the lighting state detecting means, An inter-vehicle distance control device configured to set a target inter-vehicle distance longer than usual.

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