Appeal No. 2003-0530
Application 09/598,815
smooth curve along a lane [column 2, lines 15 through
57].
Of particular concern in this appeal is the information
transmitted by Jitsukata from vehicle to vehicle:
As illustrated in FIG. 5, a vehicle 8 equipped with
the automatic driving system according to the present
invention sets a target running trajectory 10 through
the aforementioned processing of the total plan ECU 13,
when receiving a vehicle leading signal indicative of a
leading vehicle in a group including a plurality of
vehicles running on the same lane, so that the vehicle 8
is steered to draw a smooth running trajectory in a
central portion of a lane 7 of a road.
Further, another vehicle (hereinafter referred to
as the "subsequent vehicle") 9 following the vehicle 8
receives a running course signal and a running course
setting position signal from the vehicle 8 which has
become a leading vehicle (hereinafter referred to the
"leading vehicle 8"), through the vehicle-to-vehicle
communications unit 16. When the subsequent vehicle 9
reaches the position indicated by the running course
setting position signal, after receiving those signals,
the subsequent vehicle 9 sets a target running
trajectory based on the running course signal received
from the leading vehicle 8 to run along a running
trajectory suitable for the subsequent vehicle 9 and
current running conditions (speed, acceleration,
orientation and so on). The set target running
trajectory is output to the vehicle control ECU 23 which
outputs control signals to a throttle actuator, a brake
actuator and a steering actuator, not shown, based on
the target running trajectory for automatic vehicle
driving.
As described above, the subsequent vehicle 9 sets a
target running trajectory suitable therefor based on a
running course 10 set by the leading vehicle 8, and
performs automatic navigation along the target running
trajectory. It is therefore possible to trace a smooth
running trajectory along a lane without depending on the
5
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Last modified: November 3, 2007