Travel control apparatus
A travel control apparatus includes: a detection unit configured to detect an exterior environment situation around a subject vehicle; and a microprocessor configured to perform: recognizing, based on a detected value of the detection unit, a traveling state of a preceding vehicle on a current lane; determining, based on a recognized result in the recognizing, whether the preceding vehicle has started making a turn; estimating a traveling trajectory of the preceding vehicle through a Kalman filter to which a physical quantity representing the traveling state of the preceding vehicle is to be inputted as an input value; and controlling a traveling actuator based on an estimated result to make the subject vehicle follow the preceding vehicle. The estimating includes estimating, when the preceding vehicle has started making the turn, varying a weight for the Kalman filter.
1 . A travel control apparatus comprising:
a detection unit configured to detect an exterior environment situation around a subject vehicle, the detection unit being a camera, a radar, or a LiDAR; and
a microprocessor and a memory coupled to the microprocessor; wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform:
recognizing, based on a detected value of the detection unit, a traveling state of a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the subject vehicle on a current lane on which the subject vehicle is traveling;
determining, based on a recognized result in the recognizing, whether the preceding vehicle has started making a turn;
estimating a traveling trajectory of the preceding vehicle through a Kalman filter to which a physical quantity representing the traveling state of the preceding vehicle is to be inputted as an input value; and
controlling a traveling actuator based on an estimated result in the estimating to make the subject vehicle follow the preceding vehicle, wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform:
the estimating including, when the preceding vehicle has started making the turn, varying a weight for the Kalman filter to increase a responsiveness of the Kalman filter to a displacement of the preceding vehicle in a lane width direction,
the physical quantity includes at least one of a traveling velocity, a traveling position, and a traveling acceleration in the lane width direction of the preceding vehicle, and
the varying the weight for the Kalman filter includes adding the weight to the physical quantity used as the input value, such that the physical quantity added to the weight is input into the Kalman filter, and
the microprocessor is configured to perform:
the recognizing including recognizing a blinking state of a direction indicator in the preceding vehicle and division lines defining a road on which the subject vehicle is traveling, based on the detected value from the detection unit and further recognizing a turning direction of the preceding vehicle based on the blinking state; and
the determining including, when determining that the preceding vehicle has started making the turn, further determining whether an adjacent lane adjacent to the current lane on which the subject vehicle is traveling is present on the turning direction, based on the division lines, and when the adjacent lane is not present on the turning direction, determining that the preceding vehicle makes a right turn or a left turn, based on the turning direction.
2 . The travel control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the varying the weight for the Kalman filter includes varying a parameter for the Kalman filter in accordance with the physical quantity.
3 . The travel control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the Kalman filter includes a first model and a second model having a different responsiveness to the displacement of the preceding vehicle in the lane width direction, and
the varying the weight for the Kalman filter includes switching from the first model to the second model by changing a variance-covariance matrix of the Kalman filter.
4 . The travel control apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the responsiveness to the displacement of the preceding vehicle in the lane width direction includes a responsiveness to a lateral position, a lateral speed, and a lateral acceleration of the preceding vehicle.
5 . The travel control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform:
the adding the weight to the physical quantity including adding the weight to the physical quantity such that an absolute value of the physical quantity is increased.
6 . The travel control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the microprocessor is configured to perform:
the controlling including determining, based on the estimated result of the estimating, whether a space large enough for the subject vehicle to pass alongside the preceding vehicle is present, and when determining that the space is present, controlling the traveling actuator to accelerate the subject vehicle.
7 . A travel control apparatus comprising:
a detection unit configured to detect an exterior environment situation around a subject vehicle, the detection unit being a camera, a radar, or a LiDAR; and
a microprocessor and a memory coupled to the microprocessor; wherein
the microprocessor is configured to function as:
a state recognition unit configured to recognize, based on a detected value of the detection unit, a traveling state of a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the subject vehicle on a current lane on which the subject vehicle is traveling;
a determination unit configured to determine, based on a recognized result from the state recognition unit, whether the preceding vehicle has started making a turn;
an estimation unit configured to estimate a traveling trajectory of the preceding vehicle through a Kalman filter to which a physical quantity representing the traveling state of the preceding vehicle is to be inputted as an input value; and
an actuator control unit configured to control a traveling actuator based on an estimated result from the estimation unit to make the subject vehicle follow the preceding vehicle, wherein
when the preceding vehicle has started making the turn, the estimation unit is configured to vary a weight for the Kalman filter to increase a responsiveness of the Kalman filter to a displacement of the preceding vehicle in a lane width direction,
the physical quantity includes at least one of a traveling velocity, a traveling position, and a traveling acceleration in the lane width direction of the preceding vehicle,
the estimation unit is configured to vary the weight for the Kalman filter by adding the weight to the physical quantity used as the input value, such that the physical quantity added to the weight is input into the Kalman filter,
the state recognition unit is configured to recognize a blinking state of a direction indicator in the preceding vehicle and division lines defining a road on which the subject vehicle is traveling, based on the detected value from the detection unit and further to recognize a turning direction of the preceding vehicle based on the blinking state, and
the determination unit is further configured to, when determining that the preceding vehicle has started making the turn, determine whether an adjacent lane adjacent to the current lane on which the subject vehicle is traveling is present on the turning direction, based on the division lines, and when the adjacent lane is not present on the turning direction, determine that the preceding vehicle makes a right turn or a left turn, based on the turning direction.
8 . The travel control apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein
the estimation unit is configured to vary the weight for the Kalman filter by varying a parameter for the Kalman filter in accordance with the physical quantity.