1135results about "External condition output parameters" patented technology

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.

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.

A system and method to avoid collisions on highways, and to minimize the fatalities, injury, and damage when a collision is unavoidable. The system includes sensors to detect other vehicles, and computing environments programmed to evaluate when a collision is imminent and to determine whether the collision is avoidable. If the collision is avoidable by a sequence of controlled accelerations and decelerations and steering, the system implements that sequence of actions automatically. If the collision is unavoidable, a different sequence is implemented to minimize the overall harm of the unavoidable collision. The system further includes indirect mitigation steps such as flashing the brake lights automatically. An optional post-collision strategy is implemented to prevent secondary collisions, particularly if the driver is incapacitated. Adjustment devices are provided to enable the driver to set the type and timing of automatic interventions.

Methods and systems for monitoring use, determining risk, and pricing insurance policies for a vehicle having autonomous or semi-autonomous operation features are provided. In certain aspects, with the customer's permission, a computer-implemented method for updating an autonomous operation feature may be provided. An indication of a software update associated with the autonomous operation feature may be received, and several autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles having the feature may be identified. The update may be installed within the several vehicles, such as via wireless communication. Also, a change in a risk level associated with the update to the autonomous operation feature may be determined, and an insurance discount may be determined or adjusted. As a result, an insurance discount may be provided to risk averse customers that affirmatively share their vehicle data with an insurance provider, and promptly and remotely receive new versions of software that operate autonomous vehicle safety features.

A control apparatus of a vehicle is provided. In the control apparatus, an unable-to-drive state of the driver of the vehicle is detected or determined. The unable-to-drive state is a state where the driver is unable to drive the vehicle. When the emergency that the driver has become the unable-to-drive state is detected or determined, the detection or determination result is notified to the outside. A leading vehicle which is adapted to leading the vehicle based on the notification, is recognized. Automatic follow-up running control is performed wherein the vehicle is made to automatically follow the leading vehicle.

A computer-implemented method of enhancing safe vehicle operation may include, one or more processors, (1) determining a preferred parking spot for an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle; (2) determining a route to the preferred parking spot from a driver drop off point; and (3) causing the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to travel from the driver drop off point to the preferred parking spot following the route controlled by one or more autonomous operation features. The preferred parking spot may be a covered parking spot, a parking spot in a parking structure, or a parking spot in a residential garage. An autonomous vehicle owner may remotely direct the autonomous vehicle to autonomously return to the driver drop off point, such as via their mobile device. Insurance discounts may be provided to autonomous vehicle owners having the self-parking functionality that mitigates or prevents risk of damage to, or theft of, the vehicle.

A system and method for providing lane changing maneuvers in an autonomously driven vehicle. The vehicle includes a navigation controller that provides a planned route for the vehicle to follow and a vehicle controller that receives route information from the navigation controller and provides steering, braking and throttle control for the vehicle to follow the route. Either the navigation controller or the vehicle controller may initiate a lane change maneuver to cause the vehicle to be steered from a travel lane to an adjacent lane. In response to the lane change requirement, the navigation controller provides a route segment to the vehicle controller and a lane-change zone so that the vehicle controller can steer the vehicle to the adjacent lane while in the lane-change zone.

A system adapted to monitor, record and analyze driver performance is described. The system includes: a vehicle sensor module adapted to receive data from a set of sensors that each measure a driving characteristic associated with a vehicle; a map data access module adapted to retrieve, from a map database, map data elements indicating various features associated with at least one path of the vehicle; and a driver behavior engine adapted to receive information from the vehicle sensor module and the map data access module, and to monitor and evaluate driver performance based on the received information.

A sensing system collects position data associated with one or more obstacles within a certain range of a vehicle. A former establishes an occupancy grid based on the collected position data. A motion monitoring module determines a reaction distance and a deceleration distance associated with a vehicle at a regular time interval during an operational state. A safety guidance module establishes a safety zone (e.g., safety zone grid) for the regular time interval based on the occupancy grid, the determined reaction distance, and the deceleration distance.

A processing apparatus includes a distance image acquirer, a moving-object detector, and a danger-level determining unit. The distance image acquirer acquires a distance image containing distance information of each pixel. The moving-object detector detects a moving object from the distance image. The danger-level determining unit determines a danger level of the moving object by use of the distance image, and outputs the danger level to a controller that controls a controlled unit in accordance with the danger level.

A lane changing assistant for motor vehicles, having a speed control system and a surroundings sensor system for recording the traffic environment including the traffic in an adjacent lane, having a decision device for deciding whether a lane changing request of the driver is to be accepted, and having a command device for issuing an acceleration command to the speed control system in the case of a lane changing request, wherein a recognition device is developed to recognize a window for swinging into the adjacent lane without danger, in the light of the data of the surroundings sensor system; and the command device is developed to compute an acceleration strategy adjusted to the window, including a point in time for the beginning of the acceleration.

A method is provided for optimizing the use of autonomous features of advanced driver assistance systems and the tracking thereof. For example, a vehicle may be equipped with several driver assistance systems in which a driver of the vehicle may be assisted. The vehicle may automatically change the number of active assistance systems or suggest to the driver one or more assistance systems to activate based on several factors, including poor driving on behalf of the driver or poor driving conditions due to weather or road quality. Statistics regarding the use of such advanced driver assistance systems may be monitored and tracked and stored on an onboard database or transmitted continuously or periodically to various entities. For example, the system may operate to allow an insurance company to track the driving performance and the use of the advanced driver assistance systems to update actuarial models to more accurately adjust rates.

Methods of assessing driver behavior include monitoring vehicle systems and driver monitoring systems to accommodate for a driver's slow reaction time, attention lapse and/or alertness. When it is determined that a driver is drowsy, for example, the response system may modify the operation of one or more vehicle systems. The systems that may be modified include: visual devices, audio devices, tactile devices, antilock brake systems, automatic brake prefill systems, brake assist systems, auto cruise control systems, electronic stability control systems, collision warning systems, lane keep assist systems, blind spot indicator systems, electronic pretensioning systems and climate control systems.

A driver can intuitively and conveniently perform an operation for instructing passing to a vehicle. In a driving support device 10, an image output unit 14a outputs, to a display unit 31, an image containing an own vehicle object representing an own vehicle and an another vehicle object representing another vehicle in front of the own vehicle object. An operation signal input unit 14b receives an operation of a user for changing the positional relationship between the own vehicle object and the another vehicle object in the image displayed on the display unit 31. A command output unit 14c outputs, to an automatic driving control unit 20, a command for instructing the own vehicle to pass the another vehicle when the positional relationship between the own vehicle object and the another vehicle object is changed such that the own vehicle object is positioned in front of the another vehicle object.

The invention concerns a system for automatic following guidance, particularly for heavy-traffic automatic following guidance, of a motor vehicle (1), designed to ease the burden on the driver in heavy-traffic situations both by taking over lateral guidance by means of an automatic steering regulation system and by maintaining a set distance from a leading vehicle. The latter function requires an adaptive cruise and braking regulation system with "stop" and "go" function. According to the invention, selection and decision means (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) are provided that select both the regulating parameters and the types of controllers [sic], e.g., following guidance of the motor vehicle (1) on the basis of lane markings recognized by means of a video camera or on the basis of a recognized leading vehicle. The system is divided into hierarchical levels I-IV, the driver always being in the monitoring and adaptation loop assigned to the top level IV of the hierarchy, so that he has the highest priority and can override the system at any time.

Some embodiments provide an autonomous navigation system which enables autonomous navigation of a vehicle along one or more portions of a driving route based on monitoring, at the vehicle, various features of the route as the vehicle is manually navigated along the route to develop a characterization of the route. The characterization is progressively updated with repeated manual navigations along the route, and autonomous navigation of the route is enabled when a confidence indicator of the characterization meets a threshold indication. Characterizations can be updated in response to the vehicle encountering changes in the route and can include a set of driving rules associated with the route, where the driving rules are developed based on monitoring the navigation of one or more vehicles of the route. Characterizations can be uploaded to a remote system which processes data to develop and refine route characterizations and provide characterizations to one or more vehicles.

Methods for providing a highly assisted driving (HAD) service include: (a) transmitting telematics sensor data from a vehicle to a remote first server; (b) transmitting at least a portion of the telematics sensor data from the remote first server to a remote second server, wherein the remote second server is configured to execute a HAD application using received telematics sensor data, and wherein the HAD application is configured to output a HAD service result; and (c) transmitting the HAD service result from the remote second server to a client. Apparatuses for providing a HAD service are described.

A method for dispatching buses in groups for a bus transit system comprising determining a service interval for each trip of the bus transit system, assembling group assignments based on the service interval for each trip, determining a dispatch schedule for each bus based on the service interval and the group assignment, communicating the dispatch schedule to each bus, and communicating group assignment information to each of a plurality of the buses in a group. The group assignment assigns a plurality of the buses into a group on a segment of the trip shared by the plurality of buses such that multiple buses for different trips can dock at a station at the same time like a train to facilitate transferring passengers.

The invention relates to a vehicle multi-target coordinating lane changing assisting adaptive cruise control method. The method comprises the following steps that 1) LCACC combination property indexes are set according to two-front-vehicle traceability, multi-vehicle movement safety and longitudinal driving comfort requirements, and the LCACC combination property indexes comprise a cost function and I/O constraints; 2) a multi-target coordinating optimal control problem is built, solving is carried out through a rolling time domain optimization algorithm, the optimal control quantity is obtained, and optimal control is achieved. The LCACC cost function is set according to the following steps that a) a traceability cost function is built through a two-norm linear combination of the vehicle distance errors and vehicle speed errors of the own vehicle and two front vehicles; b) a comfort cost function is built by restraining longitudinal acceleration. The LCACC I/O constraints are set according to the steps that a) in the respect of tracking performance, vehicle following error constraints which are used for limiting the vehicle speed errors and the vehicle distance errors and allowed by a driver are obtained through driver experimental data in a statistic mode; b) in the respect of safety performance, the safety distance between the own vehicle and multiple surrounding vehicles is restrained in the view of vehicle following and collision avoidance; c) in the respect of comfort performance, the expected longitudinal acceleration data range is restrained.

A vehicle speed control system includes: a unit for computing a first target velocity based on map information; a unit for computing a second target velocity based on a road profile obtained from other information than the map information (such as lane recognition using a camera); a unit for comparing the first target velocity and the second target velocity; a unit for selecting a lower target velocity therefrom; and a unit for controlling a vehicle velocity in accordance with the selected target velocity.