An autonomous controller for a vehicle. The controller has a processor configured to receive position signals from position sensors and to generate operation control signals defining an updated travel path for the vehicle. The controller has a programmable interface providing communication among the position sensors, the operation control mechanisms, and the processor. The controller is configured to normalize inputs to the processor from the position sensors and to generate compatible operation control signals applied as the inputs to the operation control mechanisms. The processor and the programmable interface define a self-contained unit configurable for operation with a variety of different remote sensors and different remote operation control mechanisms.

Control and systems for autonomously driven vehicles

An imaging system for a vehicle includes an imaging sensor and a control. The imaging sensor is operable to capture an image of a scene occurring exteriorly of the vehicle. The control receives the captured image, which comprises an image data set representative of the exterior scene. The control may apply an edge detection algorithm to a reduced image data set of the image data set. The reduced image data set is representative of a target zone of the captured image. The control may be operable to process the reduced image data set more than other image data, which are representative of areas of the captured image outside of the target zone, to detect objects present within the target zone. The imaging system may be associated with a side object detection system, a lane change assist system, a lane departure warning system and/or the like.

Object detection system for vehicle

This contribution provides a review of fundamental goals, development and future perspectives of driver assistance systems. Mobility is a fundamental desire of mankind. Virtually any society strives for safe and efficient mobility at low ecological and economic costs. Nevertheless, its technical implementation significantly differs among societies, depending on their culture and their degree of industrialization. A potential evolutionary roadmap for driver assistance systems is discussed. Emerging from systems based on proprioceptive sensors, such as ABS or ESC, we review the progress incented by the use of exteroceptive sensors such as radar, video, or lidar. While the ultimate goal of automated and cooperative traffic still remains a vision of the future, intermediate steps towards that aim can be realized through systems that mitigate or avoid collisions in selected driving situations. Research extends the state-of-the-art in automated driving in urban traffic and in cooperative driving, the latter addressing communication and collaboration between different vehicles, as well as cooperative vehicle operation by its driver and its machine intelligence. These steps are considered important for the interim period, until reliable unsupervised automated driving for all conceivable traffic situations becomes available. The prospective evolution of driver assistance systems will be stimulated by several technological, societal and market trends. The paper closes with a view on current research fields.

https://www.mrt.kit.edu/z/publ/download/2014/BenglerDietmayerFarberMaurerStillerWinner2014ITSM.pdf

Three Decades of Driver Assistance Systems: Review and Future Perspectives

A forward-facing vision system for a vehicle includes a forward-facing camera disposed in a windshield electronics module attached at a windshield of the vehicle and viewing through the windshield. A control includes a processor that, responsive to processing of captured image data, detects taillights of leading vehicles during nighttime conditions and, responsive to processing of captured image data, detects lane markers on a road being traveled by the vehicle. The control, responsive to lane marker detection and a determination that the vehicle is drifting out of a traffic lane, may control a steering system of the vehicle to mitigate such drifting, with the steering system manually controllable by a driver of the vehicle irrespective of control by the control. The processor, based at least in part on detection of lane markers via processing of captured image data, determines curvature of the road being traveled by the vehicle.

Vision system for vehicle

A vehicular vision system includes a camera having a lens and a CMOS photosensor array having a plurality of photosensor elements. The camera is disposed at an interior portion of a vehicle equipped with the vehicular vision system. The camera one of (i) views exterior of the equipped vehicle through the windshield of the equipped vehicle and forward of the equipped vehicle and (ii) views from the windshield of the equipped vehicle into the interior cabin of the equipped vehicle. A control includes an image processor that processes image data captured by the photosensor array. The image processor processes captured image data to detect an object viewed by the camera. The photosensor array is operable at a plurality of exposure periods and at least one exposure period of the plurality of exposure periods is dynamically variable.

Vehicular vision system

In a safety running system, a transverse travelling distance resulting when a subject vehicle travels to a current position of an oncoming vehicle is calculated based on the vehicle velocity and yaw rate of the subject vehicle, a relative transverse distance of the oncoming vehicle relative to a vehicle body axis of the subject vehicle is calculated based on a relative distance, relative velocity and relative angle between the subject vehicle and the oncoming vehicle detected by a radar information processor. When a relative transverse deviation obtained by subtracting the transverse travelling distance from the relative transverse distance resides within a range and that state continues to exist over a predetermined time period, it is judged that there is a collision possibility of the subject vehicle with the oncoming vehicle, and automatic steering is performed so as to avoid a collision.

Safety running system for vehicle

A steering actuator is prevented from generating excess steering torque that gives an uncomfortable feeling to a driver who is holding a steering wheel when a collision between a vehicle and an oncoming vehicle is avoided by automatic steering by the actuator. When there is a possibility of a collision between the vehicle and an oncoming vehicle, the collision with the oncoming vehicle is avoided by supplying a lateral movement control current having a sinusoidal shape to the actuator of an electric power steering device to move the vehicle laterally. The yaw angle of the vehicle is detected by integrating the yaw rate simultaneously with the start of the lateral movement, and in order to return the vehicle attitude of the vehicle to its original state by converging the yaw angle to 0 in the final stage of the lateral movement, a yaw angle correction control current is superimposed on the lateral movement control current and supplied to the actuator. By using the current supplied to the actuator (that is, the steering torque generated by the actuator) as the steering target value for avoiding a collision instead of the steering angle, the actuator can be prevented from generating excess steering torque which gives an uncomfortable feeling to a driver.

Vehicle travel safety device

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/46672.pdf

Driving risk assessment using near-crash database through data mining of tree-based model.

A relative lateral deviation calculating device calculates a relative lateral deviation between a vehicle and an on-coming vehicle, based on the state of the on-coming vehicle detected by an object detecting device and a future locus of movement for the vehicle estimated by a movement locus estimating device. When the relative lateral deviation is in a predetermined range, a contact-possibility determining device determines that there is a possibility that the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle. Even when the relative lateral deviation is not in the predetermined range, if a steering-state detecting device has detected an involuntary steering operation by a driver, a contact avoiding device increases the steering reaction force of the steering wheel to inhibit the steering operation by the driver in a direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle.

Travel safety system for vehicle

An integrated vehicle control system including: contact possibility determining means for determining whether a possibility of contact with an obstacle is great, first brake control means for controlling operation of the vehicle brake in response to the possibility of contact, vehicle behavior detecting means for detecting parameters such as the vehicle yaw rate, vehicle behavior control means for calculating a value such as the error between the detected yaw rate and a reference yaw rate and calculating a manipulated variable (braking force difference) such that the veerability of vehicle is enhanced, and second brake control means for controlling operation of the vehicle brake in response to the calculated manipulated variable. In the system, the vehicle behavior control means advances the timing of the calculation of the manipulated variable or increases the manipulated variable, when the possibility of contact is great, whereby effecting the vehicle behavior sufficient for avoiding an obstacle, while enhancing the vehicle veerability.

Kenji Kodaka

Papers

Safety running system for vehicle

Vehicle travel safety device

Driving risk assessment using near-crash database through data mining of tree-based model.

Travel safety system for vehicle

Integrated control system of vehicle