Patent ID: 8145389

Claim:
A system for assisting a driver who steps on an accelerator pedal to control a driving force generated by an engine of a vehicle, comprising: an obstacle detecting device configured to obtain data related to an obstacle in a field around the vehicle; an accelerator pedal stroke sensor configured to detect an operation amount of the accelerator pedal; an accelerator pedal reaction force regulator configured to regulate a reaction force applied to the driver from the accelerator pedal in response to a reaction force command; a driving force regulator configured to: calculate a driver driving-force request based on the detected operation amount of the accelerator pedal using a predetermined relationship between a driver driving-force request and an operation amount of the accelerator pedal; subtract a driving force command from the calculated driver driving-force request to give a target driving force; and control the internal combustion engine in such a way that the target driving force is generated; and a controller configured to: recognize an obstacle situation based on the obtained data and calculate risk potential based on the recognized obstacle situation; calculate an accelerator pedal reaction force instruction value based on the calculated risk potential using a predetermined relationship between the risk potential and the reaction force instruction value; calculate a manipulation speed of the accelerator pedal; determine, based on the detected operation amount of the accelerator pedal and the calculated manipulation speed of the accelerator pedal, that the driver issues an acceleration intention via the accelerator pedal when the driver steps on the acceleration pedal at a manipulation speed greater than or equal to a predetermined value; calculate an accelerator pedal reaction force correction amount based on the calculated accelerator pedal reaction force instruction value; provide the calculated accelerator pedal reaction force correction amount, as the reaction force command, to the accelerator pedal reaction force regulator; calculate a driving force correction amount based on the calculated risk potential; and provide the calculated driving force correction amount, as the driving force command, to the driving force regulator, wherein the calculated driving force correction amount is reduced in response to the calculated manipulation speed of the accelerator pedal for a predetermined period of time upon determining that the driver issues the acceleration intention and the calculated driving force correction amount remains unaltered upon determining that the driver does not issue the acceleration intention, and wherein the calculated accelerator pedal reaction force correction amount is a product of the calculated accelerator pedal reaction force instruction value and a reaction force correction coefficient that takes a different value upon determining that the driver issues the acceleration intention from a value upon determining that the driver does not use the acceleration intention.