Patent ID: 8219311
Filing Date: 2012-07-10
Classification: B60K,B60W

Abstract:
1. A headway distance maintenance supporting system for a given vehicle, comprising: an obstacle detector configured to detect a status of an obstacle present in front of the given vehicle; a controller configured to determine an operation reaction force to be generated in a driving operation equipment used by a driver of the given vehicle, the operation reaction force being a tactile force transmitted to the driver via the driving operation equipment; and an operation reaction force generator configured to generate said operation reaction force in said driving operation equipment based on said operation reaction force determined by the controller such that the driving operation equipment transmits the tactile force to the driver, wherein the controller is configured to control said operation reaction force generated by said operation reaction force generator in said driving operation equipment based on a status of a detected obstacle detected by the obstacle detector, wherein the operation reaction force determined by the controller comprises a principal operation reaction force and an auxiliary operation reaction force, the auxiliary operation reaction force being no greater than the principal operation reaction force, and wherein the controller is configured to generate the auxiliary operation reaction force before a generation of the principal operation reaction force in the driving operation equipment.