Patent ID: 7058494

Claim:
A vehicle dynamics control apparatus comprising: at least one sensor configured to detect at least a turning condition and a driving condition of a host vehicle; at least one actuator configured to produce a yaw moment acting on the host vehicle; and a control unit configured to be electronically connected to the sensors and the actuator, for enabling vehicle dynamics control, which is initiated for dynamic behavior improvement purposes when the host vehicle's dynamic behavior including at least an actual yaw rate exerted on the host vehicle is deteriorated, and lane deviation prevention control, which is initiated for lane deviation avoidance purposes when a lane-deviation estimate corresponding to a future lateral deviation of the host vehicle from a driving lane exceeds a lane-deviation criterion in absence of a driver's intention for lane changing, the control unit comprising: (a) a driving stability decision section that determines a driving stability including a vehicle driveability and a vehicle stability, based on at least the turning condition; (b) a yawing-motion control section that controls a yawing motion of the host vehicle by producing the yaw moment corresponding to a final desired yaw moment and acting in a direction that improves the driving stability when the driving stability is deteriorated, the final desired yaw moment being determined to be equal to a controlled variable of the lane deviation prevention control when the vehicle dynamics control is inoperative and determined to be equal to a controlled variable of the vehicle dynamics control when the vehicle dynamics control is operative; (c) a lane deviation prevention section that determines, based on the driving condition, a lane-deviation tendency of the host vehicle from the driving lane, and executes the lane deviation prevention control by producing the yaw moment corresponding to the controlled variable of the lane deviation prevention control and acting in a direction that lane deviation is prevented; and (d) a driving stability decision compensation section that compensates for a decision of the driving stability, based on the controlled variable of the lane deviation prevention control.