US-12617401-B2 - Vehicle control device and control method

Abstract

A vehicle control device is configured to execute travel control of controlling a vehicle such that a travel speed of the vehicle is a target speed corresponding to an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle, or a predetermined target speed set by a driver of the vehicle, and acceleration limit control of limiting acceleration of the vehicle by the travel control. The vehicle control device includes a controller configured to execute the acceleration limit control when an intention to turn right or left of the driver is detected in the vehicle traveling under the travel control, and to end the acceleration limit control in response to a decrease in a steering speed in the vehicle during the acceleration limit control.

Inventors

• Kazuki Tomioka
• Yoshimitsu Murahashi
• Soichiro Ueura

Assignees

• HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240730

Priority Date

20230802

Claims (9)

1. 1 . A vehicle control device, wherein the vehicle control device is configured to execute travel control of controlling a vehicle such that a travel speed of the vehicle is a target speed corresponding to an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle, or a predetermined target speed set by a driver of the vehicle, and acceleration limit control of limiting acceleration of the vehicle by the travel control, the vehicle control device comprises a controller configured to execute the acceleration limit control when an intention to turn right or left of the driver is detected in the vehicle traveling under the travel control, and to end the acceleration limit control in response to a decrease in a steering speed in the vehicle during the acceleration limit control, the controller is configured to set an acceleration for accelerating the vehicle to a first acceleration by the travel control such that the travel speed reaches the target speed when the intention to turn right or left is detected, the controller is configured to set the acceleration for accelerating the vehicle to a second acceleration by the travel control such that the travel speed reaches the target speed when the intention to turn right or left is not detected, the first acceleration is smaller than the second acceleration, when the intention to turn right or left is detected, the controller is configured to accelerate the vehicle at the first acceleration such that the travel speed reaches the target speed upon an end of the acceleration limit control, and the first acceleration is set based on at least one of past driving characteristics in the vehicle of the driver, a steering angle in the vehicle, or a legal speed of a road on which the vehicle is traveling.
2. 2 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to detect the intention to turn right or left based on both the steering angle and the steering speed in the vehicle becoming greater than preset thresholds.
3. 3 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to detect the intention to turn right or left based on the driver activating a direction indicator of the vehicle.
4. 4 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to decelerate the vehicle when the driver activates a brake of the vehicle in the vehicle traveling under the travel control, and to resume the travel control when the brake is released.
5. 5 . The vehicle control device according to claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to notify the driver that the travel control is resumed when the vehicle is decelerated in response to the brake.
6. 6 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the first acceleration is set based on past driving characteristics in the vehicle of the driver.
7. 7 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the first acceleration is set based on the steering angle in the vehicle.
8. 8 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the first acceleration is set based on a legal speed of a road on which the vehicle is traveling.
9. 9 . A control method executable by a computer for executing travel control of controlling a vehicle such that a travel speed of the vehicle is a target speed corresponding to an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle, or a predetermined target speed set by a driver of the vehicle, and acceleration limit control of limiting acceleration of the vehicle by the travel control, the control method comprising: executing the acceleration limit control when an intention to turn right or left of the driver is detected in the vehicle traveling under the travel control; ending the acceleration limit control in response to a decrease in a steering speed in the vehicle during the acceleration limit control; setting an acceleration for accelerating the vehicle to a first acceleration by the travel control such that the travel speed reaches the target speed when the intention to turn right or left is detected; setting the acceleration for accelerating the vehicle to a second acceleration by the travel control such that the travel speed reaches the target speed when the intention to turn right or left is not detected, the first acceleration being smaller than the second acceleration; and when the intention to turn right or left is detected, accelerating the vehicle at the first acceleration such that the travel speed reaches the target speed upon an end of the acceleration limit control, wherein the first acceleration is set based on at least one of past driving characteristics in the vehicle of the driver, a steering angle in the vehicle, or a legal speed of a road on which the vehicle is traveling.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-126540 filed on Aug. 2, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device and a control method. BACKGROUND In recent years, attempts have been made to provide access to a sustainable transportation system in consideration of vulnerable traffic participants. As one of the attempts, research and development on driving support technique and automated driving technique of a moving object (for example, a vehicle such as an automobile) have been performed in order to improve safety and convenience of traffic. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 4052292 below discloses a technique of detecting a steering amount by a driver and setting a control amount of deceleration control according to the steering amount. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-126433 below discloses a technique of, in a situation where vehicle speed automated control for controlling the vehicle speed in an automated manner is on, maintaining the on state of the automated vehicle speed control when the vehicle turns right or left at an intersection. However, in the related art, for example, when a vehicle traveling under travel control referred to as adaptive cruise control (ACC) turns right or left, the driver may feel discomfort, and there is room for improvement in this regard. The present disclosure relates to providing a vehicle control device and a control method capable of preventing a driver from feeling discomfort when a vehicle turns right or left while traveling under travel control of controlling the vehicle such that the travel speed of the vehicle is a target speed corresponding to an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle or a predetermined target speed set by the driver. This further improves traffic safety, and contributes to development of a sustainable transportation system. SUMMARY A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device, in which the vehicle control device is configured to execute travel control of controlling a vehicle such that a travel speed of the vehicle is a target speed corresponding to an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle, or a predetermined target speed set by a driver of the vehicle, and acceleration limit control of limiting acceleration of the vehicle by the travel control, andthe vehicle control device includes a controller configured to execute the acceleration limit control when an intention to turn right or left of the driver is detected in the vehicle traveling under the travel control, and to end the acceleration limit control in response to a decrease in a steering speed in the vehicle during the acceleration limit control. A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to a control method executable by a computer for executing travel control of controlling a vehicle such that a travel speed of the vehicle is a target speed corresponding to an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle, or a predetermined target speed set by a driver of the vehicle, and acceleration limit control of limiting acceleration of the vehicle by the travel control, the control method including: executing the acceleration limit control when an intention to turn right or left of the driver is detected in the vehicle traveling under the travel control; andending the acceleration limit control in response to a decrease in a steering speed in the vehicle during the acceleration limit control. According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device and a control method capable of preventing a driver from feeling discomfort when a vehicle traveling under constant speed travel control turns right or left. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle 1 controlled by a control device 30 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation when the vehicle 1 traveling under ACC turns right or left; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the acceleration when traveling straight and the acceleration when turning right or left of the vehicle 1 traveling under ACC; FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control device 30 for executing ACC and acceleration limit control; FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of processing executed by the control device 30 for detecting the right or left turn intention of the driver; and FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an