Adaptive cruise control system with mode change display

摘要

An adaptive cruise control system (1) for a vehicle (3),is capable of operating in at least two modes, a first Cruise mode in which the speed of the vehicle (3) is controlled to maintain a set speed, and a second Follow mode in which the speed of the vehicle (3) is controlled to maintain a set distance from the preceding target vehicle (5), the system (1) including means (7) to switch from Cruise mode to Follow mode if a target vehicle (5) is detected within a predetermined distance (9) of the vehicle (3), and a driver display interface (11) for displaying the mode of operation of the adaptive cruise control system (1), in which the system (1) includes a change anticipation system (13) which detects when the system operation is about to change mode from Cruise to Follow and causes the display interface (11) to display to the driver that the mode change is to occur, prior to the system change to allow the driver to take avoiding action.