Development of a Prototype Driver Support System With Accelerator Pedal Reaction Force Control and Driving and Braking Force Control

This paper describes a novel prototype driver support system aimed at improving drivers' awareness of changing situations ahead as well as at reducing the frequency of approaching a preceding car closely. The control algorithm is based on the idea of a virtual repulsive force that increases as the host vehicle draws closer to a car ahead. The virtual repulsive force is utilized to determine the accelerator pedal reaction force and to control the effective driving and braking force. A build-up of accelerator pedal reaction force helps drivers recognize that the situation ahead is changing towards a more critical state so that they can appropriately release their accelerator pedal and be ready to operate the brake pedal. The driving and braking force control, which is used in parallel to the control of the accelerator pedal reaction force, is designed to actively reduce the frequency where the host vehicle driver closes in on a preceding car without driver's intention.

In addition, in a real-world traffic environment, there are situations where the host vehicle approaches preceding vehicles by driver's intentional acceleration in order to overtake them. The virtual repulsive force is varied according to the driver's intentions as judged from the operation of the accelerator pedal, so as not to interfere with the driver's action to accelerate to pass the vehicle ahead.