Apparatus and a method for controlling an inter-vehicle distance

1. An apparatus for controlling an inter-vehicle distance, the apparatus comprising:

at least one of a first sensor or a second sensor mounted to a host vehicle to have a field of view with respect to an exterior of with respect to in front of the host vehicle;

at least one of a second sensor mounted to the host vehicle to have a field of view with respect to behind the host vehicle; and

a controller communicatively connected to the at least one of the first sensor and the at least one of the second sensor and configured to:

recognize one or more forward targets in front of the host vehicle, based on at least one of an image data processed by the first sensor or a sensing data processed by the second sensor;

control the host vehicle to drive while maintaining a predetermined first inter-vehicle distance from a first target that precedes on a driving road of the host vehicle from among the one or more forward targets;

determine whether a second target from among the one or more forward targets cuts into the driving road of the host vehicle;

if the second target cuts into the driving road of the host vehicle, determine a possibility of collision with the second target;

if the host vehicle has the possibility of collision with the second target, maintain the first target as an object from which the host vehicle is to maintain an inter-vehicle distance, and control the host vehicle to drive while maintaining a second inter-vehicle distance, which is farther than the first inter-vehicle distance;

determine whether the second target completely entered into the driving road of the host vehicle via lane change; and

if the second target completely entered into the driving road of the host vehicle, change the object from which the host vehicle is to maintain the inter-vehicle distance from the first target to the second target, and control the host vehicle to drive while maintaining the predetermined first inter-vehicle distance from the second target,

wherein the controller is configured to:

recognize a rearward target behind the host vehicle, based on at least one of the first sensor or the second sensor,

determine a possibility of collision with the rearward target,

correct the second inter-vehicle distance based on a degree of the possibility of collision with the rearward target, and

control the host vehicle to drive while maintaining a third inter-vehicle distance from the first target.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller provides a back warning while the first inter-vehicle distance is changed to the second inter-vehicle distance.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the third inter-vehicle distance is greater than the first inter-vehicle distance and less than the second inter-vehicle distance.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller calculates an estimated time of collision with the second target, and

if the estimated collision time corresponds to a predetermined condition, determines that the host vehicle has the possibility of collision with the second target.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller measures an overall length of the second target, and

changes the first inter-vehicle distance to the second inter-vehicle distance based on the measured overall length.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller determines whether the second target completely entered into the driving road, based on whether all front wheels and rear wheels of the entering target cross a line in a direction from an adjacent road which is adjacent to the driving road of the host vehicle, to the driving road of the host vehicle.

7. A method for controlling an inter-vehicle distance, the method comprising:

recognizing, using a controller communicatively connected to a first sensor, one or more forward targets in front of a host vehicle by capturing image data using the first sensor;

controlling, by the controller, the host vehicle to drive while maintaining a predetermined first inter-vehicle distance from a first target that precedes on a driving road of the host vehicle from among the one or more forward targets;

determining, by the controller, whether a second target from among the one or more forward targets cuts into the driving road of the host vehicle;

when the second target cuts into the driving road of the host vehicle, determining, by the controller, a possibility of collision with the second target;

when the host vehicle has the possibility of collision with the second target, maintaining, by the controller, the first target as an object from which the host vehicle is to maintain an inter-vehicle distance, and controlling the host vehicle to drive while maintaining a second inter-vehicle distance, which is farther than the first inter-vehicle distance;

recognizing, by the controller, a rearward target behind the host vehicle by a second sensor communicatively connected to the controller;

determining, by the controller, a possibility of collision with the rearward target;

correcting, by the controller, the second inter-vehicle distance based on a degree of the possibility of collision with the rearward target;

controlling, by the controller, the host vehicle to drive while maintaining a third inter-vehicle distance from the first target;

determining, by the controller, whether the second target completely entered into the driving road of the host vehicle via lane change; and

when the second target completely entered into the driving road of the host vehicle, changing, by the controller, the object from which the host vehicle is to maintain the inter-vehicle distance from the first target to the second target, and controlling, by the controller, the host vehicle to drive while maintaining the predetermined first inter-vehicle distance from the second target.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

providing a back warning while the first inter-vehicle distance is changed to the second inter-vehicle distance.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the third inter-vehicle distance is greater than the first inter-vehicle distance and less than the second inter-vehicle distance.