In motion control in the present invention, operation amounts relating to braking and drive are set as a control command when a difference between a physical quantity relating to a target vehicle attitude which is based on a target trajectory and a physical quantity relating to a linear model vehicle attitude which is based on a linear model of a vehicle exceeds a threshold value, operation amounts relating to braking and steering are set as the control command when the difference is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, and an attitude of the vehicle in a yaw direction is controlled based on the control command.

In motion control in the present invention, operation amounts relating to braking and drive are set as a control command when a difference between a physical quantity relating to a target vehicle attitude which is based on a target trajectory and a physical quantity relating to a linear model vehicle attitude which is based on a linear model of a vehicle exceeds a threshold value, operation amounts relating to braking and steering are set as the control command when the difference is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, and an attitude of the vehicle in a yaw direction is controlled based on the control command.

A method is for determining a side slip angle during the cornering of a vehicle. The following variables are recorded and interlinked via a mathematical vehicle model with assumptions of the linear single-track model: a predetermined or measured position of the center of gravity between a front and rear axle, the current vehicle velocity, a current vehicle cornering motion variable, the current steering angle on the front axle. To simplify the determination of the side slip angle, it is determined under the assumption that the difference between the side slip angle and the Ackermann side slip angle is proportional to the difference between the Ackermann angle and the steering angle. The actual side slip angle is deduced from the relationship of the measured steering angle and the Ackermann angle based on the proportionality relationship of the Ackermann side slip angle theoretically present when driving through the same curve without slip.

A control method of a vehicle includes determining a look-ahead time, calculating a predicted passage position by using specific vehicle information having at least a position of a wheel at the current time point, velocity of the vehicle, and the proceeding direction of the vehicle, acquiring a road surface displacement-associated value at the predicted passage position, calculating a final target control force based on the road surface displacement-associated value at the predicted passage position, and controlling a control force generator based on the final target control force.

A control method of a vehicle includes determining a look-ahead time, calculating a predicted passage position by using specific vehicle information having at least a position of a wheel at the current time point, velocity of the vehicle, and the proceeding direction of the vehicle, acquiring a road surface displacement-associated value at the predicted passage position, calculating a final target control force based on the road surface displacement-associated value at the predicted passage position, and controlling a control force generator based on the final target control force.

An estimation includes a dead reckoning unit, a map matching unit, and a parameter correction unit. The dead reckoning unit is configured to estimate a state quantity by dead reckoning based on (i) a dynamics model including a parameter that changes a behavior of the vehicle and (ii) internal information acquired from an inside of the vehicle. The map matching unit is configured to observe the state quantity by map matching based on (i) map information indicative of a traveling environment of the vehicle and (ii) external information acquired from an outside of the vehicle. The parameter correction unit is configured to correct the parameter, which is to be fed back for the dead reckoning, based on an offset amount that is a difference between the state quantity observed by the map matching and the state quantity estimated by the dead reckoning.

An estimation includes a dead reckoning unit, a map matching unit, and a parameter correction unit. The dead reckoning unit is configured to estimate a state quantity by dead reckoning based on (i) a dynamics model including a parameter that changes a behavior of the vehicle and (ii) internal information acquired from an inside of the vehicle. The map matching unit is configured to observe the state quantity by map matching based on (i) map information indicative of a traveling environment of the vehicle and (ii) external information acquired from an outside of the vehicle. The parameter correction unit is configured to correct the parameter, which is to be fed back for the dead reckoning, based on an offset amount that is a difference between the state quantity observed by the map matching and the state quantity estimated by the dead reckoning.

An apparatus and a method for controlling a vehicle steering system, which are capable of improving a sense of unity between driver's driving input and vehicle motion and the stability of the vehicle by estimating a side slip angle and performing return control, may include an assist torque determination module for determining assist torque for steering assist, a return control module for determining steering return torque for returning the steering wheel to a neutral position, a side slip angle estimation module for estimating a side slip angle, a side slip control module for determining a return control gain value in a response to the estimated side slip angle, a correction unit of correcting the determined steering return torque in a response to the return control gain value, and a torque compensation unit of determining final assist torque by compensating the determined assist torque with the corrected steering return torque.

An apparatus and a method for controlling a vehicle steering system, which are capable of improving a sense of unity between driver's driving input and vehicle motion and the stability of the vehicle by estimating a side slip angle and performing return control, may include an assist torque determination module for determining assist torque for steering assist, a return control module for determining steering return torque for returning the steering wheel to a neutral position, a side slip angle estimation module for estimating a side slip angle, a side slip control module for determining a return control gain value in a response to the estimated side slip angle, a correction unit of correcting the determined steering return torque in a response to the return control gain value, and a torque compensation unit of determining final assist torque by compensating the determined assist torque with the corrected steering return torque.

A vehicle control device controlling a vehicle capable of switching between an automatic driving mode and a driver involvement mode in which a driver is involved includes a blind spot boundary specifying unit configured to specify a boundary of a region becoming a blind spot of the vehicle, a traveling plan generation unit configured to generate a traveling plan in which the vehicle does not collide with a moving body assumed to be positioned on the blind spot boundary specified by the blind spot boundary specifying unit, a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the traveling plan generated by the traveling plan generation unit satisfies a predetermined condition, and a switching unit configured to switch the vehicle from the automatic driving mode to the driver involvement mode when the determination unit determines that the traveling plan satisfies the predetermined condition.