Patent ID: 7317973

Claim:
A method for automatic guidance of a vehicle having a steering control unit, comprising: receiving at the vehicle wirelessly transmitted infrastructure data for a travel route; storing in an on-board memory of the vehicle infrastructure data for at least a current section of the travel route immediately ahead of the vehicle; continually determining a current position of the vehicle using a position-determining system; and calculating vehicle-guidance commands at least on the basis of continually determined current position data and the stored infrastructure data, whereby the vehicle-guidance commands influence the steering control unit to maintain the vehicle at the center of a road lane, wherein the wireless transmitted infrastructure data includes information about a current road condition that is automatically acquired and transmitted via a radio beacon for a respective section of the travel route, wherein the wirelessly transmitted infrastructure data includes data regarding a course of a roadway, a number of lanes of the roadway and a width of the lanes, and wherein the method further includes: recording a vehicle preceding the vehicle and slower than the vehicle as a target object, and regulating a speed of the vehicle to maintain a clearance from the slower vehicle, the regulation of the speed being taken over by an electronic guidance unit when an automatic vehicle guidance is active.