747results about "Control safety arrangements" patented technology

Embodiments, systems, and techniques for vehicle operation assistance are provided herein. Vehicle operation assistance may be provided by monitoring characteristics of an occupant of a vehicle and determining an emergency status for the occupant based on characteristics of the occupant, transmitting a request for help based on the emergency status indicating the occupant of the vehicle is experiencing an emergency, receiving a “follow me” request from a potential leader vehicle, enabling follower mode such that vehicle is a follower vehicle and the potential leader vehicle is a leader vehicle, establishing a connection with the leader vehicle and receiving navigation instructions from the leader vehicle based on the vehicle being in follower mode, generating driving action commands based on navigation instructions, and executing respective driving action commands in an autonomous fashion based on the vehicle being in follower mode.

A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle includes determining whether a primary user is present in an autonomous vehicle, allowing use of a plurality of functions of the autonomous vehicle in response to determining that the primary user is present in the autonomous vehicle, and receiving and storing preferences input by the primary user, wherein the preferences identify a limitation on one or more of the plurality of functions of the autonomous vehicle that should be enforced during use of the autonomous vehicle if the primary user is not present in the autonomous vehicle. The method further includes limiting use of the one or more of the plurality of functions of the autonomous vehicle as specified by the preferences in response to determining that the primary user is not present in the autonomous vehicle.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for performing cooperative autonomous driving between a vehicle and a driver. For this, a cooperative autonomous driving apparatus according to the present invention includes a driver state determination unit for determining a state of a driver and calculating the state of the driver as a risk index. An autonomous driving control unit classifies section characteristics of respective sections included in a path to a destination corresponding to the driver based on section data stored in a database (DB), and controls autonomous driving of a vehicle in which the driver is riding, based on a driving environment recognized for the path to the destination corresponding to the driver. A driving control determination unit determines driving modes of the respective sections included in the path based on the state of the driver and the section characteristics.

Methods and systems for monitoring use, determining risk, and pricing insurance policies for a vehicle having autonomous or semi-autonomous operation features are provided. According to certain aspects, with the insurance customer's permission, operation of an autonomous (or semi-autonomous vehicle) by a vehicle operator may be monitored. Based upon vehicle and / or other data analysis, an identity of the operator may be determined, and operating data regarding the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle while the operator at least partially controls the autonomous vehicle may be monitored. A vehicle operator profile that includes information regarding an operating style of the vehicle operator based upon the operating data may be determined. Risk levels associated with operation of the autonomous vehicle based upon the information regarding the vehicle operator's operating style may be determined. Insurance discounts may be provided to risk averse vehicle owners and / or operators, or those that utilize vehicle risk mitigation or prevention technology.

A computer program product is provided for controlling an autonomous vehicle, where the computer program product comprises a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith and executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method. The method includes determining whether a primary user is present in an autonomous vehicle, allowing use of a plurality of functions of the autonomous vehicle in response to determining that the primary user is present in the autonomous vehicle, and receiving and storing preferences input by the primary user, wherein the preferences limit a function of the autonomous vehicle if the primary user is not present. The method further includes limiting use of the one or more of the plurality of functions of the autonomous vehicle as specified by the preferences in response to determining that the primary user is not present in the autonomous vehicle.

An environment monitor has a plurality of sensors for detecting predetermined safety risks associated with a plurality of potential destination regions around a vehicle as the vehicle moves over a roadway. The environment monitor selects one of the potential destination regions having a substantially lowest safety risk as a target area. A path determination unit assembles a plurality of plausible paths between the vehicle and the target area, monitors predetermined safety risks associated with the plurality of plausible paths, and selects one of the plausible paths having a substantially lowest safety risk as a target path. An impact detector detects an impact between the vehicle and another object. A stability control is configured to autonomously steer the vehicle onto the target path when the impact is detected.

Provided are an apparatus and method for sharing vehicle information among autonomous vehicles. According to the apparatus and method, not only current driving-related information and future driving-related information of a self vehicle but also current driving-related information and future driving-related information of another vehicle is acquired and used to control travel of the self vehicle. Accordingly, the safety of travel is improved, and efficient autonomous travel is enabled.

The embodiment of the invention provides a decision-making method and deviceused in the process of lane changing, equipment and a storage medium. The method comprises the following steps ofacquiring afirst planned trajectory along which a self-driving vehicle runs towards a first lane and a second planned trajectory along which the self-driving vehicle runs towards a second lane in a preset period of time in the process of lane changing of the auto-driving vehicle, wherein the first lane is a target lane in the process of lane changing, and the second lane is a lane where the self-driving vehicle is located at the beginning of the process of lane changing; predicting the predicted trajectories of obstacles in the preset period of time according to the operation status of at least one obstacle in a preset range around the self-driving vehicle; and making a decision of the running action of the self-driving vehicle according to the first planned trajectory, the second planned trajectoryand the predicted trajectories of the obstacles. The decision-making method and device in the embodiment of the invention can cope with the unexpected situation on a road in the process of lane changing of the self-driving vehicle.

A transportation vehicle with an autonomous driving control has a set-up mode, an active drive mode, a safe shutdown mode, and an emergency response mode. The active drive mode autonomously navigates along a driving route specified in the set-up mode. A driver sensing system senses a driver presence in the driver seat and a driver's physiological state. Active drive mode is not entered from set-up mode unless the driver is present in the driver seat and the physiological state matches a normal condition. While in active driving mode, an elapsed time period is measured whenever the driver presence is not detected. If the time period increases above a first threshold then a notice is given to the driver that the active drive mode may be interrupted. If the time period increases above a second threshold then the active drive mode is terminated and the safe shutdown mode is initiated. A sensed physiological state is compared to a predetermined emergency condition and if a match is found then the autonomous driving control terminates the active drive mode and the emergency response mode is initiated.