Patent ID: 8265847

Claim:
A speed control device for a vehicle, comprising: a vehicle speed acquiring unit that acquires a speed of the vehicle; a vehicle position acquiring unit that acquires a position of the vehicle; a curve acquiring unit that acquires a single curve located in front of the vehicle, inclusive of a shape and position of the single curve, the single curve having a curve entry point and a curve exit point; a reference point setting unit that determines a section of the single curve having a constant radius of curvature, extending from a start point to an end point, and sets, on the acquired single curve, a first reference point within the single curve based on the section start point and a second reference point within the single curve based on the section end point and nearer to the curve exit point than the first reference point; a distance calculating unit that calculates, based on the vehicle position and the first reference point, a first distance serving as a distance of an interval between the vehicle and the first reference point, and also calculates, based on the vehicle position and the second reference point, a second distance serving as a distance of an interval between the vehicle and the second reference point; a target vehicle speed determination unit that determines a first target vehicle speed based on the curve shape and the first distance, and a second target vehicle speed based on the curve shape and the second distance, determines the first target vehicle speed as a target vehicle speed until the vehicle passes the first reference point, and determines the second target vehicle speed as the target vehicle speed after the vehicle passes the first reference point; and a vehicle speed control unit that controls the speed of the vehicle based on the target vehicle speed and the speed of the vehicle.