EP0770979A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus for and method of controlling vehicular systems while travelling
Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
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Filing: 1996-10-23
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-10-23
Abstract
Abstract A vehicle-mounted travel control system including a navigation system control section which controls a storage section, a position detection section for detecting the present position of the vehicle, a course decision section for deciding an intended travel course of the vehicle. The travel control system also includes a central control section for managing control sections based on information of various sensors installed in the vehicle. The system also includes a terminal device which is connected to the navigation system control section and the central control section. The terminal device is adapted to determine at least one predetermined time responsive to an actual vehicle speed based on actual vehicle speed information transferred from said central control section, and the navigation system control section is adapted to determine an intended travel position after elapse of a predetermined time with reference to the present position of the vehicle based on the vehicle speed and predetermined time transferred from the terminal device.
Inventors
- 👤 Kazuyoshi c/o Mitsubishi Denki K.K. Urahashi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 20:16
CPC Classifications
G; G08; G08G; G08G1/00; G08G1/123; G08G1/09; G08G1/0962; G08G1/0968; G08G1/096805; G08G1/096827; B; B60; B60K; B60K31/00; B60K31/0058; G08G1/096855; G08G1/096872
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
307 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system, comprising: a navigation system control sectdion (4) which controls a storage section (5) for storing map information inclusive of position information of a vehicle, a position detection section (7) for detecting a present position of the vehicle, a course decision section (6) for deciding an intended travel course of the vehicle, and a display section (8) for displaying the map information, the present position of the vehicle, and the intended travel course of the vehicle, and in which position information of the present position of the vehicle is calculated by superimposing the position information detected by said position detection section (7) onto the map information read out from said storage section; a central control section (1) : for managing at least one subsystem control section based on information from a plurality of sensors installed in the vehicle, at least one of said sensors sensing an actual vehicle speed; and a terminal device (10) which is connected to said navigation system control section (7) and said central control section (1) and which processes information from both of said navigation system control section (4) and said central control section (1) and transfers information to said navigation system control section (4) and said central control section (1), wherein said terminal device (10) is adapted to determine at least one predetermined time responsive to the actual vehicle speed based on actual vehicle speed information transferred from said central control section (1), and wherein said navigation system control section (4) is adapted to determine an intended travel position where the vehicle will be after the lapse of the predetermined time based on the vehicle speed and the predetermined time transferred from said terminal device (10), and is further adapted to virtually advance the virtual position of the vehicle in a memory to the determined intended travel position.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
59 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal device is adapted to judge that the actual vehicle speed is zero, and so that the vehicle has stopped, to set a provisional vehicle speed when it is judged that the vehicle has stopped, and to determine the predetermined time responsive to said set provisional vehicle speed.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
43 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said navigation system control section is adapted to read out vehicle position information corresponding to said intended travel position from said storage section and to transfer said position information to said terminal device.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
17 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said map information includes information about altitude.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
82 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal device is adapted to judge whether a curve exists on the intended travel course based on the position information of the present position of the vehicle transferred from said navigation system control section and position information of the vehicle of the intended travel position; and to judge a condition of the curve of the intended travel course when it is judged that a curve exists on the intended travel course.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
89 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 5, wherein said terminal device is adapted to produce suspension-controlling information based on the actual vehicle speed transferred from said central control section and the condition of the curve of the intended travel course judged by said terminal device, wherein said central control section is provided with a suspension control section which is instructed so as to control a suspension immediately before going into the curve of the intended travel course based on said suspension-controlling information transferred from said terminal device.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
93 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 5, wherein said terminal device is adapted to produce vehicle speed-controlling information based on the actual vehicle speed transferred from said central control section and said judged condition of the curve of the intended travel course, and wherein said central control section is provided with a vehicle speed control section which said central control section instructs so as to control a vehicle speed immediately before going into the curve of the intended travel course based on the vehicle speed-controlling information transferred from said terminal device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
127 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 5, wherein said terminal device is adapted to judge whether it is dangerous to go into the curve of the intended travel course at the present vehicle speed based on the actual vehicle speed transferred from the central control section and said judged condition of the curve of the intended travel course; and to read out alarm information immediately before going into the curve of the intended travel course when it is judged dangerous to go into the curve of the intended travel course, and to transfer the alarm information to said display section, and wherein said display section displays the alarm information transferred from said terminal device immediately before going into the curve of the intended travel course.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
89 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 5, wherein said terminal device is adapted to produce steering angle-controlling information based on the actual vehicle speed transferred from said central control section and the judged condition of the curve of the intended travel course, and wherein said central control section is provided with a steering control device which is instructed so as to control a steering angle immediately before going into the curve of the intended travel course based on the steering angle-controlling information transferred from said terminal device.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
92 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 4, wherein said terminal device is adapted to obtain an average grade of the intended travel course based on an altitude difference obtained based on the altitude of the present position information of the vehicle transferred from said navigation system control section, and the altitude of the intended travel position information and a distance between the present position and the intended travel position; and is adapted to judge the condition of the grade of the intended travel course based on the obtained average grade.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
109 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 10, wherein said terminal device is adapted to judge whether a present gear is suitable and to produce gear-controlling information for controlling the transmission based on said judged condition of the grade of the intended travel course when it is judged that the present gear is not suitable, and wherein said central control section is provided with a transmission control section which is instructed so as to control a value of the gear of the transmission or gear change-up timing immediately before going into the grade of the intended travel course based on the gear-controlling information transferred from said terminal device.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
94 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 10, wherein said terminal device is adapted to select a drive source of a hybrid-type vehicle, in which an engine and electric motor are combined, based on the condition of the grade of the intended travel course judged by said grade judgment means, and wherein said central control section is provided with a drive source control section of the hybrid-type vehicle which is instructed so as to set the drive source based on the drive source information of the hybrid-type vehicle transferred from said terminal device.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
156 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 11, wherein said terminal device is adapted to calculate a fuel mixing ratio at the present position based on the altitude information of the present position transferred from said navigation system control section; to judge whether it is necessary to change the present fuel mixing ratio calculated on the basis of said judged condition of the grade of the intended travel course; and to produce fuel mixing ratio-controlling information based on the present fuel mixing ratio calculated and the condition of the grade of the intended travel course judged when it is judged necessary to change the present fuel mixing ratio, and wherein said central control section is provided with an engine control section which is instructed so as to control the fuel mixing ratio immediately before going into the grade of the intended travel course based on the fuel mixing ratio-controlling information transferred from said terminal device.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
81 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal device is adapted to judge whether a tunnel exists at the intended travel position based on the attribute of the position information of the intended travel position after said predetermined time has elapsed; and to produce control information to said at least one control section immediately before going into the tunnel at the intended travel position when it is judged that a tunnel exists at the intended travel position.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
81 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal device is adapted to judge whether a railroad crossing exists at the intended travel position based on the attribute of the position information of the intended travel position and to produce control information to at least one of controlling devices mounted on said vehicle immediately before going into the railroad crossing of the intended travel position when it is judged that the tunnel exists on the intended travel position.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
187 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said navigation system control section is provide with a voice message notification section for providing a voice message, and a receive section for receiving weather information, wherein said terminal device is adapted to extract weather information corresponding to the position information of the present position and to the position information of the intended travel position based on the weather information received by said receive section, and to compare the extracted weather information corresponding to the present position with the extracted weather information corresponding to the intended travel position to judge whether the weather condition of the intended travel position is different from the weather condition of the present position; and to read out the alarm information and to transfer the alarm information to said voice message notification section when it is judged that the weather condition of the intended travel position is different from the weather condition of the present position, and wherein said voice message notification section provides a driver with a voice message advising the driver of the alarm information transferred from said terminal device.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
79 words
A vehicle-mounted travel control system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal device is adapted to extract weather information corresponding to the position information of the intended travel position transferred from said navigation system control section based on the weather information received by said receive section, and to judge whether the weather condition of the intended travel position is snow; and to produce control information to at least one of said first control section and said second control section.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
234 words
A control method for controlling operating systems of a vehicle having a vehicle-mounted travel control system, the travel control system including a navigation system control section which controls a storage section, a position detection section for detecting a present position of the vehicle, and a course decision section for deciding an intended travel course of the vehicle, and also including a central control section for managing at least one subsystem control section based on information from various sensors installed in the vehicle, at least one of the sensors sensing actual vehicle speed information; and also including a terminal device which is connected to said navigation system control section and said central control section, and which processes information from both said navigation system control section and said central control section and transfers the information to said navigation system control section and said central control section, said method comprising the steps of: determining at least one predetermined time responsive to an actual vehicle speed based on the actual vehicle speed information transferred from said central control section, determining an intended travel position, where the vehicle is expected to be after the predetermined time has elapsed, with reference to the present position of the vehicle based on the actual vehicle speed and predetermined time transferred from said terminal device, and virtually advancing a virtual position of the vehicle in a memory to the determined intended travel position.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
63 words
A method according to claim 18, further comprising the steps of judging that the actual vehicle speed is zero and so that the vehicle has stopped, setting a provisional vehicle speed when it is judged that the vehicle is stopping, and carrying out said step of determining said predetermined time based on said set provisional vehicle speed rather than said actual vehicle speed.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method according to claim 18, further comprising a step of reading out position information of the vehicle corresponding to said intended travel position from said storage section, and a step of transferring said position information to said terminal device.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
79 words
A method according to claim 18, further comprising a step of judging whether a curve exists on the intended travel course based on the position information of the present position of the vehicle transferred from said navigation system control section and position information of the vehicle of the intended travel position, and a step of judging a condition of the curve of the intended travel course when it is judged that a curve exists on the intended travel course.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
75 words
A method according to claim 18, further comprising a step of judging whether a tunnel exists at the intended travel position based on an associated attribute of the position information of the intended travel position, and a step of producing control information to said at least one of subsystem control section immediately before going into the tunnel at the intended travel position when it is judged that the tunnel exists at the intended travel position.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
78 words
A method of according to claim 18, further comprising a step of judging whether a railroad crossing exists at the intended travel position based on an associated attribute of the position information of the intended travel position, and a step of producing control information to said at least one of subsystem control section immediately before going into the railroad crossing of the intended travel position when it is judged that a tunnel exists at the intended travel position.
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