WO2005020183A1

WO2005020183A1 - Device and method for selecting preceding vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2005020183A1
Application number: PCT/JP2004/012037
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tokuji Yoshikawa; Hiroshi Kuroda; Masatoshi Hoshino; Satoru Kuragaki
Original assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
Priority date: 2003-08-20
Filing date: 2004-08-16
Publication date: 2005-03-03
Also published as: WO2005020182A1; AU2003262253A1; JP4120678B2; JPWO2005020183A1

Abstract

A preceding vehicle is accurately selected by estimating courses of a user’s own vehicle and a forward vehicle, the selection being made accurately even when the preceding vehicle enters a curve, leaves a curve, or changes lanes. To achieve this, a preceding vehicle-selecting device has an own-vehicle behavior-measuring function for measuring the behavior of a user’s own vehicle, an own-vehicle course-estimating function for estimating the course of the user’s own vehicle based on the own vehicle’s behavior measured by the own-vehicle behavior-measuring function, and a forward-vehicle position- measuring function for measuring the position of at least one forward vehicle. The position of the user’s own vehicle after predetermined time is estimated, and when the distance between the estimated position of the user’s own vehicle and a forward vehicle is less than a predetermined value, the forward vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle. When some forward vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle, the predetermined value of distance is set greater than values set when a preceding vehicle is not selected.

Description

Advance vehicle selection device and advance vehicle selection method

The present invention relates to a device and a method for detecting a preceding vehicle with respect to a host vehicle, and more particularly, to a method and a device for selecting a detected preceding vehicle as a preceding vehicle. Background art

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-319929 discloses a technology relating to a preceding vehicle selection in which the curvature of a road is estimated and a preceding vehicle on the own lane is selected from the detected vehicles. This technique calculates the curvature of a curved road ahead of the host vehicle when the host vehicle is traveling straight and the front of the host vehicle is a curved road. The preceding vehicle is selected based on the calculated curvature of the curved road. In order to calculate the curvature of the road when the target is recognized on a curved road, the rate of change of the lateral position of the object is calculated from the history of the lateral position of the object over time. The curvature of the road ahead of the own vehicle is calculated based on the change rate. Then, based on the calculated curvature of the road and the relative position of the object, the probability that the object is in the same lane as the own vehicle is determined, and the preceding vehicle is selected. Or, if the road curvature based on the stationary objects assumed to exist at both ends of the road is obtained, the road curvature is calculated based on the magnitude relationship between those road curvatures and the road curvature obtained based on the moving object. Then, the possibility that the moving object is in the same lane as the own vehicle is determined, and the preceding vehicle is selected.

Since the conventional technology does not consider the change in the direction of the host vehicle, it calculates the curvature of the curve from the change in the relative position between the host vehicle and the target. When traveling on a road, there is a problem that the curvature of a curved road cannot be calculated correctly. Even when the vehicle is traveling on a straight road, the road curvature is calculated as constant from the position of the vehicle to the position of the vehicle ahead, so the calculated road curvature differs from the actual road curvature, and the selection of the preceding vehicle is correct. In some cases, you cannot.

Also, since it is a probability that the preceding vehicle is on the same lane as the own vehicle, if the preceding vehicle or own vehicle changes lanes, the evening when the preceding vehicle switches from the presence to the absence or from the absence to the presence Is not stable.

Furthermore, since there is not always a stationary object within the radar detection range, there is a problem that the reliability of the selection result of the preceding vehicle decreases in places where there is no stationary object. Disclosure of the invention

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention estimates the course of the own vehicle and the course of the preceding vehicle, and determines that the difference between the estimated own vehicle position and the preceding vehicle position is equal to or less than a predetermined value. One of them is to select it as a leading vehicle. Furthermore, it is intended to use it for running control of the own vehicle based on the selected result. Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of a preceding vehicle selection function.

Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the own vehicle route estimation function.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of a preceding vehicle determination function.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a first embodiment of a vehicle lane inside / outside determination function.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of the preceding vehicle identification function.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of a preceding vehicle determination function.

FIG. 7 is a state transition diagram of the first embodiment of the judgment method switching function. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the preceding vehicle selection function.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a forward vehicle route estimating function.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a third embodiment of a preceding vehicle determination function.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a second embodiment of the own lane inside / outside determination function.

FIG. 12 is a state transition diagram of a second embodiment of the judgment method switching function.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a fourth embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function.

FIG. 14 is a state transition diagram of the third embodiment of the judgment method switching function.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram of a fifth embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function.

FIG. 16 is a state transition diagram of a fourth embodiment of the judgment method switching function.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the processing content of the preceding vehicle determination function.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the processing content of the preceding vehicle determination function.

Fig. 19 is a block diagram of the vehicle.

FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a forward vehicle position measuring device. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The feature of the present invention is a self-vehicle behavior measurement function for measuring the behavior of the own vehicle, a self-vehicle course estimation function for estimating the course of the self-vehicle based on the self-vehicle behavior measured by the self-vehicle behavior measurement function, A vehicle position measurement function for measuring the position of at least one vehicle ahead, estimating the vehicle position after a predetermined time, and when the estimated distance between the vehicle position and the vehicle ahead is less than or equal to a predetermined value, The preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle. When a certain preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle, the predetermined value of the distance is to be increased as compared with when the preceding vehicle is not selected. Another feature of the present invention is a self-vehicle behavior measurement function for measuring the behavior of the self-vehicle, and estimating the course of the self-vehicle based on the self-vehicle behavior measured by the self-vehicle behavior measurement function. Vehicle position estimation function that measures the position of at least one vehicle in front of the vehicle, and estimates the position of the vehicle after a predetermined period of time. When the distance of the vehicle is less than or equal to a predetermined value, the preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle. Once the vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle is continuously selected as the preceding vehicle.

Another feature of the present invention is a self-vehicle behavior measurement function for measuring the behavior of the self-vehicle, and a self-vehicle course estimation for estimating the course of the self-vehicle based on the self-vehicle behavior measured by the self-vehicle behavior measurement function. Function, a front vehicle position measurement function to measure the position of the front vehicle, and a position of the front vehicle measured by the front vehicle position measurement function and a behavior of the own vehicle measured by the own vehicle behavior measurement function. A forward vehicle route estimating function for estimating a course, or an own vehicle course change measuring function for measuring a change in the course of the own vehicle estimated by the own vehicle course estimating function; A forward vehicle course change measuring function for measuring a change in the course of the preceding vehicle, when the course of the own vehicle and the preceding car estimated by the estimation function are the same, or between the own vehicle and the preceding car measured by the change measuring function. When both courses are not changing The position of the own vehicle after a predetermined time is estimated, and when the estimated distance between the own vehicle position and the preceding vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle, and the course of the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle is the same or However, even if the condition that the course of both the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle does not change is not satisfied, the preceding vehicle is to be selected as the preceding vehicle.

Hereinafter, the preceding vehicle selection method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In describing the present invention, for example, a function such as a preceding vehicle selecting function is used. However, this may be a device such as a preceding vehicle selecting device or a preceding vehicle selecting device. It may be a process or step such as a vehicle selection process. FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the first embodiment of the preceding vehicle selection function 103.

The preceding vehicle selecting function 103 includes a host vehicle route estimating function 104 and a preceding vehicle determining function 105. The own vehicle route estimation function 104 estimates the own vehicle route based on the own vehicle behavior measured by the own vehicle behavior measurement function 101.

The vehicle behavior measured by the vehicle behavior measurement function 101 is the vehicle speed V, the vehicle angular velocity ω, or the vehicle steering angle H.

The vehicle speed V can be calculated by measuring the ground speed of the vehicle based on the radio waves or light transmitted from the vehicle reflected from the road surface and returning, or based on the rotation speed of the wheels or the propeller shaft. measure.

The number of rotations of the wheels or the propeller shaft may be measured by the own vehicle behavior measurement function 101, and the number of rotations of the wheels or the propeller shaft may be input to the preceding vehicle selection function 103.

By inputting the rotation speed of the wheels or the propeller shaft to the preceding vehicle selection function 103, there is no need to attach a new sensor to the vehicle.

By measuring the ground speed, it is possible to reduce errors in the speed of the vehicle when the wheels slip.

The preceding vehicle determination function 105 is based on the relative position between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle measured by the own vehicle route estimation function 104 and the own vehicle's course and the preceding vehicle position measurement function 102. Forward vehicle position measurement function Outputs information on the preceding vehicle from among multiple forward vehicles measured by 102. In other words, the vehicle existing in the own lane is estimated from a plurality of measured preceding vehicles and the preceding vehicle is determined.

The own vehicle route estimation function 104 will be described with reference to FIG.

The own-vehicle-path estimation function 104 uses the own-vehicle position when the preceding-vehicle selection function 103 is activated as the origin Ο, and changes the moving direction of the own vehicle based on Calculate the vehicle position から from the moving distance of the vehicle calculated from V The

Then, using the current vehicle position P (t) and the past vehicle position 2 points P (t — 1) and P (t-2), three vehicle positions P (t) and P (t Calculate the curve radius R of the vehicle's own car passing through 1 1) and P (t 1 2) and the curve center C of the vehicle's power and the radius of the curve R.

The past two points P (t-1) and P (t-2) of the own vehicle position are set based on the time before the predetermined time or the traveling distance of the own vehicle.

The vehicle path estimated by the vehicle curve radius R.

The own vehicle curve radius R may be calculated by the equation (1) based on the own vehicle angular velocity ω and the own vehicle speed V.

R = V / ω ··· (1) Alternatively, the calculation may be performed by equation (2) based on the own vehicle steering angle Η, the own vehicle speed V, the stability factor A, the wheelbase L, and the steering gear ratio N. .

R = (L + AXVXV) XLXN / H (2) The first embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function 105 will be described with reference to FIG.

The preceding vehicle determination function 105 includes a vehicle lane inside / outside determination function 201 and a preceding vehicle identification function 206.

The vehicle lane inside / outside determination function 201 sets the vehicle lane area based on the vehicle lane estimated by the vehicle lane estimation function 104, and the front vehicle position measured by the vehicle forward position measurement function 102 is used. It is determined whether the vehicle is within the set lane area.

If the position of the preceding vehicle is within the own lane area, the preceding vehicle is determined to be the preceding vehicle, and if not, the preceding vehicle is determined not to be the preceding vehicle.

The preceding vehicle identification function 206 is used when multiple vehicles ahead are traveling in the own lane. Since the plurality of preceding vehicles are determined to be preceding vehicles by the own lane inside / outside determination function 201, one preceding vehicle closest to the own vehicle is identified from the plurality of determined preceding vehicles. A first embodiment of the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 will be described with reference to FIG. When the host vehicle position P is set to the origin Op, the front vehicle position Q measured by the front vehicle position measurement function 102 is the position of the host vehicle in the traveling direction yd, and the position in the direction perpendicular to the host vehicle traveling direction. Is at the position of X q.

The distance between the estimated vehicle position and the preceding vehicle position Q when the own vehicle continues to travel with the own vehicle curve radius R calculated by the own vehicle path estimation function 104 is defined as the forward vehicle traveling position Rdiff. If the car curve radius R≥0, calculate using equation (3). If the car curve radius R <0, calculate using equation (4).

Rdiff = R-^ ((R-x q) ~ 2 + y q "2)… (3)

Rdiff = R + ^ ((R-x q) ~ 2 + y q "2)-(4)

~: Power

It is determined whether or not the preceding vehicle traveling position Rdiff calculated by the equation (3) or (4) is smaller than half the lane width W1.

If the preceding vehicle traveling position Rdiff is smaller than half of the own lane width W1, it is determined that the preceding vehicle is the preceding vehicle, and if it is larger, it is determined that it is not the preceding vehicle.

The lane width W1 is made wider when the preceding vehicle, which is not the preceding vehicle, becomes the preceding vehicle last time than when it is not the preceding vehicle.

Also, if the preceding vehicle is no longer the preceding vehicle, make it narrower than the preceding vehicle.

By widening the lane width W1 when there is a preceding vehicle, if the preceding vehicle enters a curved road from a straight road while the own vehicle is traveling on a straight road ゃIf a vehicle enters a straight road from a curved road, And select it.

In addition, if the preceding vehicle changes lanes while the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight road or a power road, it is determined that the lane change has been completed because the preceding vehicle has left the own lane area. it can. As a result, the influence of the position change of the preceding vehicle due to the lane change can be suppressed, and the lane change of the preceding vehicle can be determined more accurately.

Also, without changing the own lane width W1, a low-pass filter is applied to the own vehicle curve radius R calculated by the own vehicle route estimation function 104 and the front vehicle position Q measured by the front vehicle position measurement function 102. The front vehicle traveling position R diff may be calculated by the equation (3) or (4) using the radius of the own vehicle and the front vehicle position after the mouth-pass filter.

Even if the vehicle's curve radius and the position of the vehicle in front are used after the low-pass fill, if the preceding vehicle enters the curve from the straight road while the vehicle is traveling on a straight road, the vehicle travels ahead on the curve Even if a car enters a straight road from a curved road, it can be selected as the preceding vehicle. ,

If the preceding vehicle changes lanes while the vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight road or a curved road, it can be determined that the lane change has been completed because the preceding vehicle has left the own lane area.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the preceding vehicle specifying function 206. First, initialization is performed in S101. Specifically, in S101, the preceding vehicle is set to no preceding vehicle, and the preceding vehicle distance is set to zero. Also, set n = 0 in S111. This initialization is performed when it is executed for the first time when the flow of FIG. 5 is executed. Specifically, this is performed when a vehicle ahead is detected in a situation where a vehicle ahead was not detected before.

Next, it is determined whether the n-th front vehicle is smaller than the front vehicle number m out of the front vehicle number m measured by the front vehicle position measuring device 102. The number of vehicles ahead is m If it is smaller, the process proceeds to S103. If it is not smaller, this routine ends. This is because the routine is terminated when it is determined that all of the m preceding vehicles being measured are the preceding vehicles.

In S103, it is determined whether or not the nth preceding vehicle has been determined to be the preceding vehicle (the preceding vehicle in the own lane).

When it is determined that the vehicle is the preceding vehicle, the process proceeds to S112, and when it is not determined that the vehicle is the preceding vehicle, the process proceeds to S106.

In S112, it is determined whether or not the set distance between the preceding vehicles is 0. If it is 0, the process proceeds to S105, and if it is not 0, the process proceeds to S104. Here, the case where the inter-vehicle distance between preceding vehicles is 0 is the value set by the initialization, and is the case where the processing of FIG. 5 is executed first. Therefore, since there is no data on the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle with n = 0 is set as the closest preceding vehicle in S105, and the distance between the preceding vehicle with n = 0 is set ahead. It is the distance between vehicles. If the distance between preceding vehicles is not 0,

Proceed to S104.

In S104, it is determined whether or not the inter-vehicle distance of the nth preceding vehicle is smaller than the set inter-vehicle distance of the preceding vehicle. If the inter-vehicle distance of the nth preceding vehicle is smaller than the set inter-vehicle distance of the preceding vehicle, the flow proceeds to S105, and if not, to S106. In S105, the n-th preceding vehicle is set as the closest preceding vehicle, and the inter-vehicle distance to the n-th preceding vehicle is set as the preceding inter-vehicle distance. In S106, n is incremented. The distance between the m preceding vehicles detected in this way is compared, and the closest preceding vehicle is specified. A second embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function 105 will be described with reference to FIG.

The preceding vehicle judgment function 105 is the inside / outside judgment function of the own lane 201, the judgment result holding function 202, the front vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, the judgment method switcher 0

No. 204, holding time measurement function 205, and preceding vehicle identification function 206.

The own lane inside / outside determination function 201 performs the same processing (similar to FIG. 4) as the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 of the first embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function 105, but the own lane width W 1 may be fixed and processing may be performed without passing the front car position through the mouth-to-pass pass.

The judgment result holding function 202 holds the previous judgment result.

The front vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203 calculates the change in the traveling position R diff of the front vehicle calculated by the own lane inside / outside determination function 201.

The judgment method switching function 203 is based on the judgment result of the own lane inside / outside judgment function 201, the calculation result of the front vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, and the holding time measured by the holding time measurement function 205. Select the output of either the own lane inside / outside judgment function 201 or the judgment result holding function 202.

The holding time measurement function 205 measures the elapsed time from the selection of the judgment result holding function 202 in the judgment method switching function 204.

The preceding vehicle specifying function 206 performs the same processing as the preceding vehicle specifying function 206 (FIG. 5) of the first embodiment of the preceding vehicle determining function 105.

A first embodiment of the judgment method switching function 204 will be described with reference to the state transition diagram of FIG.

If the previous judgment result of the preceding vehicle is the preceding vehicle and the current preceding vehicle traveling position R diff is larger than half of the lane width W1, or if the previous judgment result is not the preceding vehicle, the current preceding vehicle traveling position If is smaller than half of the own lane width W1, the processing transits to the judgment result holding function 202. That is, the previous determination result held in the determination result holding function 202 is output to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206.

This allows the preceding vehicle, which was determined to be the preceding vehicle, to exit the lane in advance. If the vehicle is about to move, or conversely, if the preceding vehicle, which was determined not to be the preceding vehicle, is about to enter the own lane, the effect of the position change in the transient state can be reduced.

In addition, when the previous judgment result is held by the judgment result holding function 202 and the holding time measured by the holding time measuring function 205 becomes larger than a predetermined value T, the preceding vehicle traveling position R If diff becomes larger than the predetermined value Wa, or if the change in the front vehicle traveling position calculated by the front vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203 becomes smaller than the predetermined value δa, the own lane inside / outside judgment function 2 0 Changes to 1. That is, the determination result by the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is input to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206 instead of the held previous determination result. The reason for this is that when the vehicle is held for a long period of time, the vehicle is released from the vehicle, the vehicle ahead is clearly out of the lane, the change in the lateral position of the vehicle ahead is small, and the vehicle ahead is on a straight road. When detecting that the vehicle has entered the vehicle, the output of the held previous determination result is stopped, and the determination result by the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is input to the preceding vehicle identification function 206.

By shifting to the determination result holding function 202 in this manner, when the preceding vehicle enters a curved road from a straight road while the own vehicle is traveling on a straight road, the preceding vehicle enters the curved road while traveling on a curved road. Even if you go straight from the power road, you can select it as the preceding vehicle.

In addition, even if the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes while the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight road or a curved road, the selection result of the preceding vehicle can be switched after the lane change.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, compared to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, even in a situation where the road width changes while traveling, or in a situation where the preceding vehicle is traveling on the right end and left end of the lane, the preceding vehicle It is possible to accurately determine whether or not. FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the preceding vehicle selection function 103.

The preceding vehicle selection function 103 includes a host vehicle route estimation function 104, a forward vehicle route estimation function 106, and a preceding vehicle determination function 105. This embodiment has a forward vehicle route estimation function 106 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and is based on the output of the own vehicle route estimation function 104 and the output of the forward vehicle route estimation function 106. The difference is that the preceding vehicle determination function 105 determines the preceding vehicle.

The own vehicle route estimating function 104 performs the same processing (FIG. 2) as the processing described in the first embodiment of the preceding vehicle selecting function 103.

The forward vehicle path estimation function 106 uses the own vehicle behavior measurement function 101 to determine the path of the forward vehicle based on the behavior of the own vehicle and the position of the forward vehicle measured by the forward vehicle position measurement function 102. presume.

The preceding vehicle determination function 105 is a forward vehicle position measurement function based on the own vehicle path estimated by the own vehicle path estimation function 104 and the forward vehicle path estimation function 106 estimated by the front vehicle path estimation function 106. Outputs the information of the preceding vehicle from among the preceding vehicles measured in.

The forward vehicle route estimating function 106 will be described with reference to FIG.

The forward vehicle route estimating function 106 uses the own vehicle position when the preceding vehicle selecting function 103 is activated as the origin O, and the own vehicle position calculated based on the own vehicle angular velocity ω and the own vehicle speed V Ρ Then, the front vehicle position Q is calculated based on the relative position between the own vehicle and the front vehicle measured by the front vehicle position measurement function 102.

Then, using the current front vehicle position Q (t) and the past two front vehicle positions Q (t-1) and Q (t-2), three front vehicle positions Q (t) and Q (t) -Calculate the curve center CQ of the front vehicle curve radius RQ and the front vehicle curve radius Rq passing through 1) and Q (t-2). The past two points Q (t-1) and Q (t-2) of the preceding vehicle are set based on the time before the specified time or the traveling distance of the preceding vehicle. Set. Forward vehicle force per radius This is the forward vehicle path estimated by RQ. A third embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function 105 will be described with reference to FIG. The preceding vehicle judgment function 105 is the own lane inside / outside judgment function 201, the judgment result holding function 202, the front vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, the holding time measurement function 205, the judgment method switching function It consists of 204 and the preceding vehicle identification function 206. In the present embodiment, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 6, a forward vehicle curve radius is input from the forward vehicle route estimation function 106, and the forward vehicle power radius and the own vehicle curve radius are used. The judgment method switching function 204 inputs the output of the own lane inside / outside judgment function 201 into the preceding vehicle identification function 206 or inputs the previous judgment result held by the judgment result holding function 202 Is different.

The vehicle lane inside / outside determination function 201 sets the vehicle lane area based on the vehicle lane estimated by the vehicle lane estimation function 104, and calculates the forward vehicle position calculated by the vehicle lane estimation function 106 ahead. It is determined whether the vehicle is within the set lane area.

The forward vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, the holding time measurement function 205, the judgment result holding function 202, and the preceding vehicle identification function 206 are the same processing as in the second embodiment (Fig. 6). I do

A second embodiment of the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 will be described with reference to FIG. Although the way of obtaining the coordinates is different from that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to use such a coordinate system by obtaining the position of the front vehicle by the front vehicle route estimation function 106. Become.

When the host vehicle position when the preceding vehicle selection function 103 is activated is the origin O, The own vehicle is at the own vehicle position P calculated by the own vehicle route estimation function 104. Also, the preceding vehicle is at the preceding vehicle position Q calculated by the forward vehicle route estimation function 106.

The distance between the estimated vehicle position and the preceding vehicle position Q when the own vehicle continues traveling on the own vehicle curve radius R calculated by the own vehicle route estimation function 104 and the center C is calculated by the following formula. When the vehicle traveling position Rdiff is the radius of the own vehicle curve R ≥ 0, it is calculated using equation (5), and when the radius of the own vehicle curve is R <0, it is calculated using the equation (6).

Rdiff = R -ΛΓ ((xq-Xc) "2 + (yq-yc)" 2)-(5) Rdiff = + Γ ((xq-xc) ~ 2 + (yq-yc) "2)-( 6) ": Power

It is determined whether or not the preceding vehicle traveling position Rdiff calculated by the formula (5) or (6) is smaller than a half of the predetermined lane width W 1.

A second embodiment of the judgment method switching function 204 will be described with reference to the state transition diagram of FIG. This is an embodiment of the judgment method switching function 204 in the configuration of FIG.

If the vehicle lane inside / outside judgment function 201 is different from the own vehicle curve radius R and the front vehicle curve radius Rq, the flow transits to the judgment result holding function 202. That is, the previous determination result held in the determination result holding function 202 is output to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206.

In addition, when the previous judgment result is held by the judgment result holding function 202 and the own vehicle curve radius R and the front vehicle curve radius Rq are equal, the own vehicle is used. Transit to line inside / outside judgment function 201. That is, the output of the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is output to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206.

Note that when the holding time measured by the holding time measurement function 205 becomes larger than the predetermined value T, when the preceding vehicle traveling position R diff becomes larger than the predetermined value Wa, or when the preceding vehicle traveling position changes. When the change in the traveling position of the preceding vehicle calculated by the function 203 becomes smaller than the predetermined value δa, the transition to the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is the same as in the embodiment shown in FIG. .

By switching to the judgment result holding function 202, if the preceding vehicle enters the curved road from the straight road while the own vehicle is traveling on a straight road, the preceding vehicle moves from the curved road while the own vehicle is traveling on the curved road. Even if you enter a straight road, you can select it as the preceding vehicle.

Further, according to the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not to hold the vehicle by comparing the estimated course (curve shape) of the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle. Therefore, compared to the embodiment shown in FIG. It is possible to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle is a preceding vehicle even in situations where the vehicle speed changes or when the preceding vehicle is traveling on the right or left end of the lane.

A fourth embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function 105 will be described with reference to FIG. The preceding vehicle determination function 105 includes the own lane inside / outside determination function 201, the determination result holding function 202, the preceding vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, the holding time measurement function 205, the determination method switching function. It consists of 204, preceding vehicle identification function 206, own vehicle course change measurement function 206, and forward car course change measurement function 208.

In this embodiment, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. It differs in that it has a forward vehicle course change measurement function 2 08. The vehicle lane inside / outside judgment function 201, the front vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, the holding time measurement function 205, the judgment result holding function 202, the preceding vehicle identification function 206, the preceding vehicle judgment function The same processing as in the third embodiment (FIG. 10) of 105 is performed.

The own vehicle course change measurement function 207 calculates the rate of change of the own vehicle curve radius R while the own vehicle travels a predetermined distance. The forward vehicle course change measurement function 208 calculates the rate of change of the forward vehicle curve radius Rq while the forward vehicle travels a predetermined distance. The own-vehicle-path-change measuring function 2 07 and the forward-vehicle-path-change measuring function 2 08 may calculate the rate of change of the curve radius at a predetermined time.

A third embodiment of the judgment method switching function 204 will be described with reference to the state transition diagram of FIG. This embodiment is an embodiment of the judgment method switching function 204 in the configuration of FIG.

When the vehicle lane inside / outside judgment function 201 is set, if the change rate of the own vehicle curve radius is larger than the predetermined value PP or the change rate of the front vehicle curve radius is larger than the predetermined value q, the judgment result holding function 2 0 Transitions to 2. That is, the previous determination result held in the determination result holding function 202 is output to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206.

In addition, when the previous determination result is held by the determination result holding function 202, the rate of change of the own vehicle curve radius is equal to or less than the predetermined value ρ and the rate of change of the forward vehicle curve radius is equal to or less than the predetermined value β q. In this case, transition to own lane inside / outside judgment function 201 is performed. As a result, the output of the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is output to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206. In this case, when both the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle are not in a transition state such as an entrance to a curve or a lane change, the determination result by the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 can be used. 7

When the holding time measured by the holding time measurement function 205 becomes larger than the predetermined value T, when the preceding vehicle traveling position R diff becomes larger than the predetermined value Wa, or when the preceding vehicle traveling position changes. When the change in the traveling position of the preceding vehicle calculated by the function 203 becomes smaller than a predetermined value (5a), the transition to the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is the same as in the embodiment shown in FIG. is there.

Further, according to the present embodiment, whether or not to hold the vehicle is determined according to the magnitude of the curve radius change rate caused by the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle entering the curve, and so on. Thus, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle is the preceding vehicle even in a situation where the road width changes while traveling, or in a situation where the preceding vehicle is traveling on the right or left end of the lane.

A fifth embodiment of the preceding vehicle determination function 105 will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment differs from the third embodiment shown in FIG. 10 in that a curve radius difference calculation function 207 is added. The preceding vehicle judgment function 105 is the inside / outside of the own lane judgment function 201, the judgment result holding function 202, the preceding vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, the holding time measurement function 205, the judgment method switching function 2 0 8, preceding car identification function 206, and curve radius difference calculation function 207 are provided.

The vehicle lane inside / outside determination function 201 sets the vehicle lane area based on the vehicle lane estimated by the vehicle lane estimation function 104, and the vehicle position measurement function 102 It is determined whether or not the measured front vehicle position is within the set lane area. If the preceding vehicle position is within the own lane area, the preceding vehicle is determined to be the preceding vehicle. If not, the preceding vehicle is determined not to be the preceding vehicle. The curve radius difference calculation function 207 calculates a difference between the own vehicle curve radius and the front vehicle curve radius, and smoothes the calculated curve radius difference with a low-pass filter.

When the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle travel at the entrance and exit of the curve, the curve radius changes slowly, and the absolute value of the difference in the curve radius after passing through the low-pass filter increases. In the case of a lane change, the absolute value of the difference in the radius of the curve after the low-pass filter is small because the radius of the curve changes rapidly. In addition, the difference between the curve radii may be the difference between the 1 / own vehicle curve radius and the 1 / forward vehicle curve radius.

The front vehicle traveling position change calculation function 203, the holding time measurement function 205, the determination result holding function 202, and the preceding vehicle identification function 206 are the same processing as in the second embodiment (FIG. 6). I do

FIG. 17 shows a processing example according to the present embodiment when the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle travel from the entrance to the exit of the curve. Fig. 18 shows an example of processing when the vehicle changes lanes. In this case, the difference between (1 / car vehicle radius) and (1Z vehicle curve radius) is used.

As shown in Fig. 17 (a), when the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle continue to pass through a curve, they will pass through a similar curve radius with a certain time difference. Then, by taking the difference between (1 / car curve radius) and (1 / car curve radius), the waveform shown in Fig. 17 (b) is obtained. Here, when the waveform shown in Fig. 17 (b) is passed through a single-pass filter, the low-pass filter is set to pass a waveform having a period longer than the time required to pass an average curve. Therefore, the waveform shown in Fig. 17 (c) is obtained.

On the other hand, if the vehicle changes lanes while the vehicle ahead is moving straight ahead, a waveform appears only at the curve radius of the vehicle, as shown in Fig. 18 (a). Does not appear in the radius. Therefore, taking the difference between (1 own vehicle curve radius) and (1Z front vehicle curve radius), the waveform shown in Fig. 18 (b) is obtained. When this waveform is passed through a mouth-pass filter, the time required to change lanes is usually smaller than when passing through a curve, and the frequency of the difference waveform is sufficiently higher than when passing through force. Therefore, the waveform shown in FIG. 18 (b) is cut by the low-pass filter, and the waveform shown in FIG. 18 (c) is output.

In this way, it is possible to distinguish between a curve entry or exit and a lane change.

A fourth embodiment of the judgment method switching function 204 will be described with reference to the state transition diagram of FIG. This embodiment is an embodiment of the judgment method switching function 204 in the configuration of FIG.

When the preceding vehicle, which was the preceding vehicle, has left the current lane area this time, or when the preceding vehicle, which was not the preceding vehicle, has entered the current lane area, the calculation result of the curve radius difference calculation function When the absolute value becomes larger than the predetermined value a, the processing transits to the determination result holding function 202. That is, the previous determination result held in the determination result holding function 202 is output to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206.

In addition, when the previous determination result is held by the determination result holding function 202 and the absolute value of the calculation result of the curve radius difference calculation function 207 is smaller than a predetermined value a, the inside / outside of the own lane is determined. Transition to function 201. That is, the output of the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is output to the preceding vehicle specifying function 206. When the holding time measured by the holding time measurement function 205 becomes larger than the predetermined value T, when the preceding vehicle traveling position R diff becomes larger than the predetermined value Wa, or when the preceding vehicle traveling position changes. When the change in the traveling position of the preceding vehicle calculated by the function 203 becomes smaller than the predetermined value δa, the transition to the own lane inside / outside determination function 201 is the same as in the embodiment shown in FIG. .

In this way, by shifting to the determination result holding function 202, when the preceding vehicle enters the power road from the straight road while the own vehicle is running on the straight road, the own vehicle is running on the curved road. Even if a preceding vehicle enters a straight road from a curved road, it can be selected as a preceding vehicle. Also, if the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes while the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight road or a power road, the calculation result of the curve radius difference calculation function 207 does not change significantly. After the start of the lane change, the selection result of the preceding vehicle can be switched.

FIG. 19 and FIG. 20 show the configuration of a vehicle to which the present invention is applied.

Front vehicle position measuring device 401, own vehicle angular velocity measuring device 402, own vehicle steering angle measuring device 400, ground speed measuring device 400, preceding vehicle selecting device 400, inter-vehicle distance control device 406, transmission 407, throttle 408, brake 409, engine 411, approach warning device 411, preceding vehicle display device 412, wheel speed measurement device 413, The propeller shaft speed measuring device 414 is connected to the in-vehicle LAN 415.

The front vehicle position measurement device 401 has a front vehicle position measurement function 102 using a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar described later. Millimeter-wave radar or laser radar can measure the relative position and relative speed with the vehicle ahead.

The host vehicle angular velocity measuring device 402 has a function of the host vehicle behavior measurement function 101, and measures the host vehicle angle ω using a vehicle angle sensor. The own vehicle steering angle measuring device 4003 has a function of own vehicle behavior measurement 101, The vehicle's own steering angle H is measured using the sensor.

The ground speed measuring device 410 has the function of measuring the behavior of the vehicle 101, and measures the vehicle speed V based on the received wave that returns from the road surface when radio waves or light transmitted from the vehicle is reflected from the road surface. measure.

The wheel rotation speed measuring device 4 1 3 (4 13 a, 4 13 b) has the function of own vehicle behavior measurement 101, and the vehicle speed V based on the wheel rotation speed of the driven wheel or the front and rear wheels. Is measured. In addition, the vehicle's angle ω is measured from the difference in the rotational speeds of the left and right wheels.

The propeller shaft rotation speed measuring device 4 14 has the function of a vehicle behavior measurement function 101 and measures the vehicle speed V based on the rotation speed of the propeller shaft.

The preceding vehicle selecting device 405 has the function of any one of the preceding vehicle selecting functions 103 described above, and includes the position of the preceding vehicle measured by the preceding vehicle position measuring device 401 and the position of the own vehicle. One angular velocity ω measured by the angular velocity measuring device 402, or one angular velocity ω measured by the wheel rotation speed measuring device 4 13 The steering angle measured by the own vehicle steering angle measuring device 43 Vehicle speed V measured by angle and ground speed measuring device 404, vehicle speed V measured by wheel rotation speed measuring device 413, vehicle speed measured by propeller shaft speed measuring device 414 The preceding vehicle is selected from the preceding vehicles measured by the preceding vehicle position measuring device 401 based on all or a part of V or the like.

The inter-vehicle distance control device 406 sends commands to the transmission 407, throttle 408, brake 409, and engine 410, and selects the preceding vehicle with the preceding vehicle selection device 405. If so, the vehicle is accelerated or decelerated so that the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle is appropriate. Here, the brake 409 is equipped with a brake control device 1804 and brake devices 1806a and 1806b. In response to a command from the distance control device 406, the brake control device 1804 controls the brake devices 186a and 186b to decelerate the vehicle. In this embodiment, as described above, the detection accuracy of the preceding vehicle is improved, so that the accuracy of the inter-vehicle distance control is improved, and rapid acceleration and deceleration based on false detection of the preceding vehicle when changing curves or lanes can be performed. Reduced.

If there is no preceding vehicle, the driver runs at a preset speed on a straight road, and runs at a preset speed on a curved road or at the speed at which the driver enters a forced road. Drive while decelerating based on the radius of the curve.

In addition, since the preceding vehicle can be recognized even when the preceding vehicle passes through the entrance of the curve, when the own vehicle controls the following distance based on the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle moves on a straight road at a constant speed or accelerates. Even if the vehicle decelerates after traveling and entering a curved road, the vehicle decelerates on a straight road.

For the same reason, even if the preceding vehicle travels at a constant speed or deceleration on a straight path and then accelerates after entering a strong road, it must recognize the acceleration of the preceding vehicle and accelerate its own vehicle on the straight path. Becomes possible. Similarly, when the own vehicle is performing inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, and the preceding vehicle travels at a constant speed or acceleration on the power road and enters the straight path, and then decelerates, Recognizing the deceleration of the vehicle, the vehicle can decelerate on a curved road.

For the same reason, even when the preceding vehicle travels at a constant speed or a deceleration on the power road and enters a straight road, and then accelerates, the own vehicle can be accelerated on a curved road.

Furthermore, according to the preceding vehicle recognition of the present invention, even when the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, it is possible to detect the preceding vehicle with higher accuracy than in the conventional technology. It becomes possible. When the own vehicle is performing inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle travels on the straight track at a constant speed or deceleration, and if the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, the The car accelerates at the specified acceleration until the driver reaches the speed set in advance. As a result, when the own vehicle is changing lanes, that is, when the driver is changing lanes, the inter-vehicle distance control device 406 mistakes that the preceding vehicle has disappeared and accelerates the vehicle. Can be prevented. Also, when the preceding vehicle changes lanes, when the preceding vehicle has not completely moved to the next lane, the own vehicle can be accelerated to prevent the vehicle from approaching the preceding vehicle.

In addition, when the own vehicle is performing inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, when the preceding vehicle travels on a curved road at a constant speed, and when the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, the The vehicle accelerates at a predetermined acceleration to the speed set by the driver or decelerates based on the radius of the curve. Accordingly, in addition to the above, when the preceding vehicle has not completely moved to the next lane, the own vehicle can be decelerated more than necessary and the driver can be less likely to feel sluggish.

If the preceding vehicle travels while decelerating on a curved road, and the vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, the vehicle is driven at a constant speed at the current speed after the lane change is completed. Alternatively, the driver accelerates at a predetermined acceleration to a speed set in advance by the driver, or decelerates at a deceleration smaller than the deceleration of the own vehicle during lane change and determined based on the radius of the force. As a result, while the own vehicle is changing lanes, that is, when the driver is performing a lane change operation, the inter-vehicle distance control device 406 mistakes that the preceding vehicle has disappeared. Can be prevented from accelerating. Further, when the preceding vehicle changes lanes, when the preceding vehicle has not completely moved to the next lane, the own vehicle can be accelerated to prevent the vehicle from approaching the preceding vehicle. The approach warning device 411 provides an alarm when the driver needs to decelerate based on the relative position, relative speed, and own vehicle speed between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle selected by the preceding vehicle selection device 4 05. Emit.

If the approaching vehicle does not issue an approach warning while the vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight path, and the preceding vehicle enters a curved road and approaches the preceding vehicle while the vehicle is traveling on a straight path, an approach warning is issued. Gives an alarm.

If the approaching warning is not issued while the vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a curved road, and the preceding vehicle enters a straight road and the vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle while traveling on a curved road, An approach warning alerts.

Also, if the vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes while the approach warning is not issued while the vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight road or a curved road, the lane change of the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle If the own vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle during that time, an approach warning will be issued.

The preceding vehicle display device 4 12 displays the presence / absence and position information of the preceding vehicle selected by the preceding vehicle selecting device 4 05 on the LED or the liquid crystal display to inform the driver of the selection state of the preceding vehicle.

When the preceding vehicle display device 4 1 2 indicates that the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are selecting the preceding vehicle while traveling on the straight path, the preceding vehicle is strong when the own vehicle is traveling on the straight path. When entering the road, it indicates that the preceding vehicle is selected.

Also, when it is displayed that the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle are selecting the preceding vehicle while traveling on a curved road, and if the preceding vehicle enters a straight road while the own vehicle is traveling on a curved road, Indicates that a car is selected. Also, when it is displayed that the preceding vehicle is selected while the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight road or a curved road, if the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle After completing the lane change, change the display of the preceding vehicle to the selected state. The preceding vehicle selection device 405 may have a configuration in which a yaw angular velocity sensor is mounted in the preceding vehicle selection device 405, so that the device can be made smaller, lighter, and more easily mounted on the vehicle. It becomes easy. In addition, the preceding vehicle position measuring device 401 has at least one of the following functions: the preceding vehicle selection function, own vehicle angular velocity measurement function, own vehicle speed measurement function, inter-vehicle distance control function, and approach warning function. It may be housed in a single housing, which makes it possible to reduce the size and weight of the device and to make it easier to mount it on a vehicle. In addition, the inter-vehicle distance control device 406 may include at least one of a preceding vehicle selection function, a vehicle angular velocity measurement function, a preceding vehicle position measurement function, a preceding vehicle display function, and an approach warning function. It may be housed in a single housing, which makes it possible to reduce the size and weight of the device and to make it easier to mount it on a vehicle. In addition, the approach warning device has at least one of the preceding vehicle selection function or own vehicle angle measurement function, front vehicle position measurement function, inter-vehicle distance control function, and preceding vehicle display function in one housing. This allows the equipment to be smaller, lighter, and easier to mount on vehicles. In addition, one or more of the preceding vehicle display function, the preceding vehicle selection function, the vehicle's angular velocity measurement function, the approach warning function, and the inter-vehicle distance control function may be housed in a single housing. By doing so, it is possible to make the equipment smaller, lighter, and easier to mount on vehicles.

Estimate the paths of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and correctly select the preceding vehicle even when entering or exiting a curved road or changing lanes. Therefore, when the following distance control is performed by using the preceding vehicle selection function of the present invention, the preceding vehicle is lost when entering a curved road and when exiting from a forcible road, and is prevented from accelerating and approaching the preceding vehicle. Can be. Also, when changing lanes, the driver's own vehicle starts accelerating when the lane change is completed, making it easier to predict the operation of the driver's own vehicle. Also, by performing an approach warning using the preceding vehicle selection function of the present invention, An approach warning can be issued even when entering or exiting a curved road. In addition, by displaying the preceding vehicle using the preceding vehicle selection function of the present invention, it is possible to display that there is no preceding vehicle when there is a preceding vehicle when entering or exiting a curved road. prevent.

As an example of the front vehicle position measuring device 401 of the present embodiment, a configuration example of a millimeter wave radar is shown in FIG.

The millimeter-wave radar 1901 outputs a modulation signal in response to a switching instruction from the signal processing unit 1910, and the transmission frequency according to the modulation signal from the modulator 1902. Transmitter 1930, which outputs the high-frequency signal of the transmitter, amplifier 1904 that amplifies the output of the transmitter 1903, and transmission antenna 1905 that transmits the output of the amplifier 1904 as radio waves. Therefore, a high-frequency signal in the millimeter wave band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) is radiated from the transmitting antenna 1905.

The radio signal reflected back from a reflector such as a vehicle ahead is received by the receiving antenna 1906 and frequency-converted by the mixer circuit 1907. A signal from an oscillator 1903 is also supplied to the mixer circuit 1907, and a low-frequency signal generated by mixing the two signals is output to an analog circuit 1908. The signal amplified and output by the analog circuit 1908 is converted into a digital signal by the AZD 1909 and supplied to the signal processing section 1910. In the signal processing section 1910, the forward vehicle position measurement processing section 1911 converts the digital signal from the AZD 1909 to the frequency spectrum of the signal by fast Fourier transform (Fast Fourier Transform). It measures as information and calculates the distance, relative speed, and direction to the vehicle ahead. The preceding vehicle selection processing unit 1912 in the signal processing unit 1910 has the function of selecting the preceding vehicle of the present invention, and the front vehicle position measurement processing unit 1911 The distance to the vehicle, the relative speed, and the direction, and the one-shot angular velocity and millimeter-wave radar of the vehicle measured at the jar in the millimeter-wave radar 1901, which are input via the communication processing unit 1914 1Select the preceding vehicle based on the wheel speed measured by the external wheel speed sensor 1915. Then, the distance, relative speed, and direction to the preceding vehicle selected as the preceding vehicle are output to the outside of the millimeter-wave radar 1901, via the communication processing unit. Industrial applicability

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the preceding vehicle selecting device and the control device using the same according to the present invention are useful as a device and a method for controlling the traveling of the own vehicle while estimating the relationship with other vehicles by means of transportation such as an automobile. It is.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A vehicle behavior measuring unit for measuring the behavior of the vehicle, and a vehicle path estimating unit for estimating the course of the vehicle based on the behavior of the vehicle measured by the vehicle behavior measuring unit. A forward vehicle position measuring unit that measures the position of the preceding vehicle, and the own vehicle path estimating unit estimates the own vehicle position after a predetermined time, and the distance between the estimated own vehicle position and the preceding vehicle is predetermined. If not, the preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle, and the predetermined value of the distance when the preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle is increased from the predetermined value of the distance when the preceding vehicle is not selected. A leading vehicle selection device that is a feature.

2. In Claim 1,

A preceding vehicle device characterized in that after the preceding vehicle is selected as a preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle selected as the preceding vehicle is continuously selected as a preceding vehicle under predetermined conditions.

3. In Claim 2,

If the distance between the estimated own vehicle position and the position of the selected preceding vehicle is larger than a predetermined value, the distance between the estimated own vehicle position and the selected preceding vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined time. A preceding vehicle selecting device, wherein the preceding vehicle is selected as a preceding vehicle until the change in distance between the estimated vehicle position and the selected preceding vehicle becomes smaller than the predetermined value.

4. An own vehicle behavior measuring unit that measures the own vehicle's behavior, an own vehicle route estimating unit that estimates the own vehicle's course based on the own vehicle's behavior measured by the own vehicle behavior measuring unit, A front vehicle position measurement unit for measuring a position, and a front vehicle for estimating a course of the front vehicle based on the position of the front vehicle measured by the front vehicle position measurement unit and the behavior of the own vehicle measured by the own vehicle behavior measurement unit. A course estimating unit; a course change measuring unit for measuring a course change of the car estimated by the course estimation unit; A forward vehicle course change measuring unit that measures a change in the course of the forward vehicle estimated by the forward vehicle course estimating unit;

When the own vehicle and the front vehicle estimated by the own vehicle route estimation unit and the other vehicle route estimation unit have the same route, or the own vehicle and the front vehicle measured by the own vehicle route change measurement unit and the other vehicle route change measurement unit When the course of both vehicles is not changing, the position of the own vehicle after a predetermined time is estimated, and when the estimated distance between the own vehicle position and the preceding vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the preceding vehicle is regarded as a preceding vehicle. If the selected vehicle does not satisfy the condition that the course of the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are the same, or that the course of both the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle does not change, the preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle. Preceding vehicle selection device.

5. In Claim 4,

If the path of the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle is the same, or if the condition that the path of both the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle does not change is not satisfied, a predetermined time elapses, or the estimated own vehicle The vehicle is selected as a preceding vehicle until the distance between the position and the selected preceding vehicle becomes larger than a second predetermined value, or until the estimated change in the distance between the own vehicle position and the selected preceding vehicle becomes smaller than the predetermined value. A preceding vehicle selection device characterized by continuing.

6. In Claim 5,

When the preceding vehicle is selected as the preceding vehicle while the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on the straight road, the preceding vehicle enters the curved road from the straight road while the own vehicle is traveling on the straight road. In this case, the preceding vehicle selected before the preceding vehicle enters the power road is selected as the preceding vehicle.

7. In Claim 4,

The preceding vehicle is regarded as a preceding vehicle while the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a curved road. When the preceding vehicle enters the straight road from the curved road while the own vehicle is traveling on the curved road, the preceding vehicle selected before the preceding vehicle enters the straight road is selected as the preceding vehicle. Preceding vehicle selection device.

8. In Claim 4,

When the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling on a straight road or a curved road, the preceding vehicle is selected as a preceding vehicle, and at least one of the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, and A preceding vehicle selection device, wherein the selection is updated.

9. In Claim 4,

An inter-vehicle distance control unit that runs while maintaining the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle at a predetermined inter-vehicle distance based on the preceding vehicle selected by the preceding vehicle selection unit;

The own vehicle performs inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, and when the preceding vehicle travels at a constant speed or acceleration at a constant speed or accelerates, enters a low-power road, and then decelerates, the own vehicle decelerates on the straight road. Or a preceding vehicle selecting device, wherein when the preceding vehicle travels on a straight road at a constant speed or a reduced speed and enters a curved road and then accelerates, the own vehicle accelerates on the straight road.

10. In claim 4,

When the own vehicle performs inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle travels at a constant speed or acceleration on a curved road, enters a straight road, and then decelerates. Or, the preceding vehicle decelerates on a curved road at a constant speed or A vehicle that accelerates on a curved road when the vehicle travels on a straight road and then accelerates.

1 1. In Claim 4,

When the own vehicle performs inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle travels on a straight road at a constant speed or a deceleration, and either the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, A preceding vehicle selecting device, wherein the vehicle accelerates.

1 2. In claim 4,

An inter-vehicle distance control unit that travels while maintaining an appropriate inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle based on the preceding vehicle selected by the preceding vehicle selection unit.

When the own vehicle performs inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle travels on a curved road at a constant speed, and either the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, A preceding vehicle selecting device, wherein the vehicle accelerates or decelerates.

1 3. In claim 4,.

When the own vehicle performs inter-vehicle distance control based on the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle travels while decelerating on a curved road, and either the own vehicle or the preceding vehicle changes lanes, The car is traveling at a constant speed or acceleration, changing lanes A preceding vehicle selecting device, wherein the vehicle decelerates at a deceleration smaller than the deceleration of the own vehicle.

1 4. In claim 4,

A preceding vehicle selecting unit, comprising: an approach warning unit that issues an approach warning based on the distance between the preceding vehicle selected by the preceding vehicle selecting unit and the host vehicle; and a device that executes the preceding vehicle selecting unit. A vehicle equipped with the device.

1 5. In claim 4,

A preceding vehicle display unit that displays a selection state of the preceding vehicle based on a selection result of the preceding vehicle selection unit.

1 6. In claim 4,

The behavior of the own vehicle measured by the own vehicle behavior measuring unit is at least one of a wheel rotation speed or a propeller shaft rotation speed, or at least one of the reception waves returned by the radio waves or light transmitted from the vehicle reflected from the road surface and returned. A preceding vehicle selecting device, which is obtained based on a host vehicle speed based on a measurement result, and an angular velocity of the host vehicle or a steering angle of the host vehicle.