Lane keeping assist system and method for improving safety in preceding vehicle follower longitudinal control

1. A lane keeping assist system for performing lane keeping using information about a lane and peripheral vehicle, comprising:

a lane and preceding vehicle sensor configured to detect a forward lane and a preceding vehicle with respect to a host vehicle;

a vehicle dynamics sensor configured to detect a driving speed, a steering angle, and a yaw rate of the host vehicle; and

an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to:

control a traveling direction of the host vehicle in a manner that the host vehicle follows a traveling route within the detected lane,

perform a preceding vehicle following control to control the traveling direction of the host vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle if the lane is not detected,

restrict the preceding vehicle follower control if the preceding vehicle deviates from an expected path of travel and a lateral distance of the preceding vehicle is greater than a threshold, and

generate a virtual lane by extending a conventional lane based on a finally-recognized lane and a finally-recognized curvature of the conventional lane.

2. The lane keeping assist system according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit (ECU) comprises a non-transitory memory and a processor, and is configured to:

recognize lane information and preceding vehicle information by acquiring lane and preceding vehicle detection information from the lane and preceding vehicle sensor;

generate a route for the host vehicle to travel in a center part based on the recognized lane information;

generate a new route based on the recognized preceding vehicle information if the lane information is not recognized, and restrict the preceding vehicle follower control if the preceding vehicle deviates from the expected path of travel; and

determine a target steering torque needed for the host vehicle following the generated route, and transmit the determined target steering torque to an electronic power steering device.

3. The lane keeping assist system according to claim 2 , wherein the ECU is configured to restrict the preceding vehicle follower control if the preceding vehicle deviates from the new route.

4. The lane keeping assist system according to claim 1 , wherein a reference value of the lateral distance is set to a width of the finally-recognized lane centering around the virtual route.

5. A lane keeping assist method comprising:

if a lane keeping assist system configured to perform lane keeping using information about a lane and peripheral vehicle is turned on, detecting a forward lane of a host vehicle;

controlling, if the lane is detected, a traveling route of the host vehicle such that the host vehicle follows a traveling route within the detected lane, and generating, if the lane is not detected, a virtual lane such that the host vehicle travels in a center part of the virtual lane;

detecting a preceding vehicle located in a forward region of the host vehicle; and

deactivating, if the preceding vehicle is not detected or if a lateral of the preceding vehicle is greater than a threshold, the lane keeping assist system and controlling, if the preceding vehicle is detected, a traveling direction of the host vehicle such that the host vehicle follows the preceding vehicle according to movement of the preceding vehicle.

6. The lane keeping assist method according to claim 5 , wherein the virtual lane is formed by extension of a conventional lane based on finally-recognized lane information.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a reference value of the lateral distance is set to a width of the finally-recognized lane centering around the virtual route.

8. A lane keeping assist system comprising:

an image sensor configured to detect a forward lane and a preceding vehicle with respect to a host vehicle; and

an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to control a traveling direction of the host vehicle by:

performing lane keeping control, if a lane ahead of the host vehicle is recognized, based on the recognized lane, or if no lane ahead of the host vehicle is recognized, using preceding vehicle follower control based a recognized preceding vehicle that is within a lateral distance up to which the host vehicle follows the preceding vehicle based on the preceding vehicle follower control,

deactivating lane keeping control if no lane ahead of the host vehicle is recognized and no preceding vehicle is recognized ahead of the host vehicle, or the lateral distance of the recognized preceding vehicle is greater than a threshold, and

generating a virtual lane by extending a conventional lane based on a finally-recognized lane and a finally-recognized curvature of the conventional lane.

9. The lane keeping assist system of claim 8 , wherein deactivating lane keeping control comprises providing control of the host vehicle to a driver of the host vehicle.

10. The lane keeping assist system of claim 8 , wherein the performing lane keeping control comprises:

generating, if no lane ahead of the host vehicle is recognized and a preceding vehicle is recognized, a new route based on the recognized preceding vehicle,

determining a target steering torque needed for the host vehicle to follow the generated route, and

transmitting the determined target steering torque to an electronic power steering device of the host vehicle.

11. The lane keeping assist system of claim 8 , wherein the ECU is further configured to:

generate a virtual route for the host vehicle to travel in a center part of the generated virtual lane.

12. The lane keeping assist system of claim 11 , wherein a reference value of the lateral distance is set to a width of the finally-recognized lane centering around the virtual route.