EP0443644A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Adaptive cruise control system
Assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
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Filing: 1991-01-25
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-01-25
Abstract
Abstract An adaptive cruise control system for a vehicle 10 maintains a desired selected driver-set speed V D in the absence of a detected preceding obstructing vehicle 12 and adjusts the source vehicle speed V S when an obstructing vehicle 12 is detected to maintain a following distance D D that is set by the vehicle operator. An alert distance D alert is computed which is a predetermined function of a distance based on driver reaction time T r . To provide for the driver selectable trailing distance D D , the driver reaction term T r of the alert distance D alert is adjusted by the vehicle operator to achieve a desired distance D D to the obstructing vehicle.
Inventors
- 👤 William Joseph Chundrlik, Jr.
- 👤 Pamela Irene Labuhn
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 09:46
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60W; B60W30/00; B60W30/14; B60W30/16; B60K; B60K31/00; B60K31/0008; B60K31/02; B60K31/04; B60K31/042; B60K31/045; B60K31/047; B60Q; B60Q9/00; B60Q9/008; B60W2530/00; B60W2540/00; B60W2540/30; B60W2554/00; B60W2554/80; B60W2554/801; B60W2754/00; B60W2754/10; B60W2754/30; B60W40/00; B60W40/08; B60W40/09; G; G01; G01S; G01S13/00; G01S13/88; G01S13/93; G01S13/931; G01S2013/9321; G01S2013/9323; G01S2013/9324
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
181 words
An adaptive cruise control system for controlling the distance of a source vehicle (10) to an obstructing vehicle (12) comprising a velocity sensor (20) for sensing the velocity (V S ) of the source vehicle; a distance sensor (22,24) for sensing the distance (D A ) from the source vehicle to the obstructing vehicle; means (25) adjustable by a driver of the source vehicle for providing a signal representative of an driver reaction time (T r ); processing means (18) for determining an alert distance (D alert ) as a function of the velocity (V S ) of the source vehicle and the driver reaction time (T r ), for determining a desired distance (D D ) of the source vehicle to the obstructing vehicle as a function of the alert distance (D alert ) and a preset distance (X), and for determining a source vehicle command velocity (V C ) suitable for establishing the desired distance (D D ); and control means (14) for adjusting the velocity of the source vehicle to the source vehicle command velocity (V C ).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
71 words
An adaptive cruise control system according to claim 1, comprising velocity sensing means (20,22) for obtaining the relative velocity (V R ) of the source vehicle to the obstructing vehicle; the processing means (18) being adapted to determine the alert distance (D alert ) as a function of the velocity of the source vehicle (V S ), the relative velocity (V r ) and the driver reaction time (T r ).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
57 words
An adaptive cruise control system according to claim 2, wherein the processing means (18) is adapted to determine the alert distance (D alert ) on the basis of the expression D alert = (V S ²/K₁) - [(V S - V R )²/K₂] + T r V s , the terms of which are as herein defined.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
62 words
An adaptive cruise control system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the processing means (18) is adapted to determine the source vehicle command velocity (V C ) as a function of the source vehicle velocity (V S ), the relative velocity (V R ) and the difference between the actual distance (D A ) and the desired distance (D D ).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
58 words
An adaptive cruise control system according to claim 4, wherein the processing means (18) is adapted to determine the source vehicle command velocity (V C ) on the basis of the expression V C = K p (D D - D A ) + (V S - V R ) the terms of which are as herein defined.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
51 words
An adaptive cruise control system according to any preceding claim, comprising desired velocity setting means (16) for setting a desired cruise velocity (V D ); and limiting means (14,18) for limiting the determined vehicle command velocity (V C ) to being no more than the desired cruise velocity (V D ).
Claim 7
Independent Claim
149 words
A method of controlling the distance of a source vehicle (10) to an obstructing vehicle (12) comprising the steps of sensing the velocity (V S ) of the source vehicle; sensing the distance (D A ) from the source vehicle to the obstructing vehicle; providing a signal representative of an driver reaction time (T r ); determining an alert distance (D alert ) as a function of the velocity (V S ) of the source vehicle and the driver reaction time (T r ); determining a desired distance (D D ) of the source vehicle to the obstructing vehicle as a function of the alert distance (D alert ) and a preset distance (X); determining a source vehicle command velocity (V C ) suitable for establishing the desired distance (D D ); and adjusting the velocity of the source vehicle to the source vehicle command velocity (V C ).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
60 words
A method according to claim 7, comprising the steps of obtaining the relative velocity (V R ) of the source vehicle to the obstructing vehicle; and determining the alert distance (D alert ) as a function of the velocity of the source vehicle (V S ), the relative velocity (V R ) and the driver reaction time (T r ).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
49 words
A method according to claim 8, wherein the alert distance (D alert ) is obtained on the basis of the expression D alert = (V S ² /K₁) - [(V S - V R )²/K₂] + T r V S , the terms of which are as herein defined.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
53 words
A method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the source vehicle command velocity (V C ) is determined as a function of the source vehicle velocity (V S ), the relative velocity (V R ) and the difference between the actual distance (D A ) and the desired distance (D D ).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
49 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein the source vehicle command velocity (V C ) is determined on the basis of the expression V C = K p (D D - D A ) + (V S - V R ) the terms of which are as herein defined.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
36 words
A method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, comprising the step of limiting the determined vehicle command velocity (V C ) to no more than a preset desired cruise velocity (V D ).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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