Patent ID: 8306717

Claim:
A reaction force apparatus comprising: an actuator for applying a reaction force to an accelerator pedal of a vehicle; a vehicle speed sensor for determining a current vehicle speed; a recommended vehicle speed determining unit for determining a recommended vehicle speed comprising a memory, wherein the memory stores information concerning recommended vehicle speeds, and wherein the recommended vehicle speed determining unit determines a recommend vehicle speed based on the information stored in the memory; a target vehicle speed setting unit for setting a target vehicle speed as the recommended vehicle speed when the recommended vehicle speed is higher than the target vehicle speed; and a reaction force controller that sets, for each of respective target vehicle speeds, reaction force applying characteristics according to which the actuator applies reaction forces to the accelerator pedal, wherein the reaction force applying characteristics represent a relationship between an amount of depression of the accelerator pedal and the reaction force such that the reaction force is lowered at the same ratio at any amounts of depression, and wherein the ratio corresponds to the ratio of the target vehicle speeds before and after the setting of the target vehicle speed to the recommended vehicle speed by the target vehicle speed setting unit.