Apparatus for vehicle driving assistance

1. An apparatus for assisting driving of a vehicle, comprising:

a road information recognition unit configured to recognize a section having lane markings and a section having no lane markings on a drive path;

a lane information generation unit configured to recognize forward lane markings provided in a direction in which a host vehicle is proceeding;

a vehicle recognition unit configured to recognize a preceding vehicle of the host vehicle; and

a controller configured to perform lateral control of the host vehicle by respectively assigning weights to information acquired by recognizing the forward lane markings and information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle based on whether the section having no lane markings is recognized.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, when the section having no lane markings is recognized, the road information recognition unit periodically calculates a distance from the host vehicle to a point at which the section having no lane markings starts in the direction in which the host vehicle is proceeding, and provides the distance to the controller.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, when the forward lane markings and the preceding vehicle are recognized, the controller performs lateral control of the host vehicle by assigning a higher weight to the information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle than to the information acquired by recognizing the forward lane markings as the distance between the host vehicle and the section having no lane markings decreases so as to become less than a reference value.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, when the forward lane markings and the preceding vehicle are recognized, the controller performs lateral control of the host vehicle by assigning a higher weight to the information acquired by recognizing the forward lane markings than to the information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle if the distance between the host vehicle and the section having no lane markings is greater than a reference value.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, before the host vehicle enters the section having no lane markings, if the forward lane markings are not recognized but the preceding vehicle is recognized, the controller performs lateral control of the host vehicle based on the preceding vehicle.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, before the host vehicle enters the section having no lane markings, if the forward lane markings are recognized, the controller performs lateral control of the host vehicle based on the forward lane markings.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein, when the preceding vehicle is driving over the forward lane marking, the controller stops lateral control of the host vehicle.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, when the host vehicle is driving in the section having no lane markings, the controller performs following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle based on the information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, when the forward lane markings are not recognized but the preceding vehicle is recognized, the controller performs following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle based on the information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein, when a lateral separation distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is equal to or less than a reference distance, the controller performs lateral control of the host vehicle based on the information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein, when an angle between a first direction in which the host vehicle is proceeding and a second direction in which the preceding vehicle is proceeding is equal to or greater than a reference angle, the controller stops following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle.

12. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein, when the preceding vehicle changes orientation thereof by an angle that is equal to or greater than a reference angle, the controller stops following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle.

13. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein, when the preceding vehicle changes orientation thereof by an angle that is equal to or less than a reference angle, if a risk of a collision between the host vehicle and another vehicle in an adjacent lane is detected, the controller stops following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle.

14. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein, when another vehicle cuts in between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the controller stops following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle.

15. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein, when a speed of the preceding vehicle becomes equal to or greater than a preset speed, the controller stops following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the road information recognition unit recognizes the section having no lane markings using at least one of information received from a GPS, information acquired by recognizing an intersection ahead of the host vehicle using a camera, and information acquired by recognizing traffic lights ahead of the host vehicle using the camera.

17. An apparatus for assisting driving of a vehicle, comprising:

a road information recognition unit configured to recognize a section having lane markings and a section having no lane markings present on a drive path of a host vehicle;

a lane information generation unit configured to recognize forward lane markings provided in a direction in which the host vehicle is proceeding;

a vehicle recognition unit configured to recognize a preceding vehicle that is proceeding ahead of the host vehicle; and

a controller configured to perform following of the preceding vehicle and lateral control of the host vehicle based on at least one piece of information, among information acquired by respectively recognizing the section having lane markings, the section having no lane markings, the forward lane markings, and the preceding vehicle,

wherein the controller is configured to:

control the host vehicle based on information acquired by recognizing the forward lane markings when the host vehicle is driving in the section having lane markings; and

control the host vehicle based on information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle and discontinue control of the host vehicle based on forward lane markings, when the host vehicle is driving in the section having no lane markings.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein, when the host vehicle is driving in the section having, lane markings, if the vehicle recognition unit recognizes the preceding vehicle, the controller performs lateral control of the host vehicle by assigning a weight to the information acquired by recognizing the forward lane markings, among the information acquired by recognizing the forward lane markings and the information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein, when the host vehicle is driving in the section having lane markings, the controller performs lateral control of the host vehicle by assigning a higher weight to the information acquired by recognizing the preceding vehicle than to the information acquired by recognizing the forward lane markings as a distance between the host vehicle and the section having no lane markings decreases so as to become less than a reference value.

20. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the controller warns of release of lateral control of the host vehicle when neither the preceding vehicle nor the forward lane markings is recognized.