IP Library Granted Patent US 10,543,853
Granted Patent B2
US 10,543,853 · App. 15/641,643 · Granted Jan 28, 2020

Systems and methods for providing collaborative control of a vehicle

Inventors: Heishiro Toyoda (Ann Arbor, MI); Terumasa Endo (Miyoshi, JP)
Assignees: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.; Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
B60W50/14B60W50/10B60W50/12G05D1/0088B60W2540/30
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,543,853
App. No.
15/641,643
Granted
Jan 28, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to providing collaborative controls for a vehicle. In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to receiving manual inputs and autonomous inputs for controlling the vehicle, determining a difference between the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs. The method includes blending the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs together into the collaborative controls as a function of at least the difference, and feedback parameters to control the vehicle to proceed along a route. The method includes generating feedback according to at least the difference to adapt how the vehicle is controlled.

Claims (46)

1. A collaborative system for providing collaborative control of a vehicle, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory communicably coupled to the one or more processors and storing:

a controls module including instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to, in response to receiving manual inputs and autonomous inputs for controlling the vehicle, determine a difference between the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs,

blend the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs together into collaborative controls as a function of at least the difference, and feedback parameters to control the vehicle to proceed along a route; and

a feedback module including instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to generate feedback according to at least the difference to adapt how the vehicle is controlled by generating an adaptation feedback, a personalization feedback, and a coaching feedback simultaneously to modify how the collaborative controls are produced through three parallel feedback mechanisms.

2. The collaborative system of claim 1 , wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the feedback including instructions to generate the adaptation feedback that adjusts autonomous parameters for controlling how the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs, wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the adaptation feedback by at least logging driving data about how the vehicle is proceeding along the route, and

wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the adaptation feedback by applying a machine learning algorithm to the driving data to produce the autonomous parameters to optimize safety when the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs.

3. The collaborative system of claim 1 , wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the feedback including instructions to generate the personalization feedback that adjusts autonomous parameters for controlling how the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs according to driving preferences of a driver of the vehicle, and

wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the personalization feedback including instructions to analyze personalization data to identify the driving preferences for the driver and modifying autonomous parameters according to the driving preferences.

4. The collaborative system of claim 3 , wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the personalization feedback including instructions to acquire personalization data including at least acquiring electronic feedback inputs from the driver, logging driving data about how the vehicle is proceeding along the route, and logging the manual inputs, and

wherein the driving preferences include at least one of lane position preference, preferences of following distances, velocity preferences, braking preferences, and acceleration preferences.

5. The collaborative system of claim 1 , wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the feedback including instructions to generate the coaching feedback to induce a driver to adjust the manual inputs, and

wherein the feedback module further includes instructions to generate the coaching feedback including instructions to analyze the difference in relation to a present environment of the vehicle to identify whether the manual inputs are an acceptable manner for controlling the vehicle and generating the coaching feedback to induce the driver to adjust the manual inputs by generating at least one of forced feedback in a steering wheel, and one or more indicators about the manual inputs to the driver.

6. The collaborative system of claim 1 , wherein the controls module further includes the instructions to blend the autonomous inputs and the manual inputs to generate the collaborative controls that control at least steering of the vehicle, and wherein the controls module further includes the instructions to blend including instructions to vary a weight of the manual inputs versus the autonomous inputs according to at least the difference and conditions of a present environment of the vehicle,

wherein the controls module further includes the instructions to blend in order to provide the collaborative controls as a semi-autonomous control of the vehicle.

7. The collaborative system of claim 1 , wherein the manual inputs are electronic controls received by the vehicle from a driver through one or more input/output devices of the vehicle, and

wherein the autonomous inputs are electronic controls produced by the vehicle for autonomously controlling the vehicle along the route.

8. The collaborative system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle includes a dual input mechansim that accepts the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs and that selectively isolates a driver from how the controls module blends the autonomous inputs and the manual inputs.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for providing collaborative control of a vehicle and storing instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

in response to receiving manual inputs and autonomous inputs for controlling the vehicle, determine a difference between the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs;

blend the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs together into collaborative controls as a function of at least the difference, and feedback parameters to control the vehicle to proceed along a route; and

generate feedback according to at least the difference to adapt how the vehicle is controlled by generating an adaptation feedback, a personalization feedback, and a coaching feedback simultaneously to modify how the collaborative controls are produced through three parallel feedback mechanisms.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions to wherein the instructions to generate the feedback include instructions to generate the adaptation feedback that adjusts autonomous parameters for controlling how the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs, wherein the instructions to generate the adaptation feedback include instructions to at least log driving data about how the vehicle is proceeding along the route, and

wherein the instructions to generate the adaptation feedback include instructions to apply a machine learning algorithm to the driving data to produce the autonomous parameters to optimize safety when the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions to generate the feedback include instructions to generate the personalization feedback to adjust autonomous parameters for controlling how the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs according to driving preferences of a driver of the vehicle, and

wherein the instructions to generate the personalization feedback include instructions to analyze personalization data to identify the driving preferences for the driver and modify autonomous parameters according to the driving preferences.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions to generate the feedback include instructions to generate the coaching feedback to induce a driver to adjust the manual inputs, and

wherein the instructions to generate the coaching feedback include instructions to analyze the difference in relation to a present environment of the vehicle to identify whether the manual inputs are an acceptable manner for controlling the vehicle and generating the coaching feedback to induce the driver to adjust the manual inputs by generating at least one of forced feedback in a steering wheel, and one or more indicators about the manual inputs to the driver.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions to blend the autonomous inputs and the manual inputs to generate the collaborative controls that control at least steering of the vehicle, wherein the instructions to blend include instructions to vary a weight of the manual inputs versus the autonomous inputs according to at least the difference and conditions of a present environment of the vehicle, and

wherein the instructions to blend provide the collaborative controls as a semi-autonomous control of the vehicle.

14. A method for providing collaborative control of a vehicle, comprising:

in response to receiving manual inputs and autonomous inputs for controlling the vehicle, determining a difference between the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs;

blending the manual inputs and the autonomous inputs together into the collaborative controls as a function of at least the difference, and feedback parameters to control the vehicle to proceed along a route; and

generating feedback according to at least the difference to adapt how the vehicle is controlled by generating an adaptation feedback, a personalization feedback, and a coaching feedback simultaneously to modify how the collaborative controls are produced through three parallel feedback mechanisms.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein generating the feedback includes generating the adaptation feedback that adjusts autonomous parameters for controlling how the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs, wherein generating the adaptation feedback includes logging driving data about how the vehicle is proceeding along the route, and

wherein generating the adaptation feedback includes applying a machine learning algorithm to the driving data to produce the autonomous parameters to optimize safety when the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein generating the feedback includes generating the personalization feedback that adjusts autonomous parameters for controlling how the vehicle generates the autonomous inputs according to driving preferences of a driver of the vehicle, and

wherein generating the personalization feedback includes analyzing personalization data to identify the driving preferences for the driver and modifying the autonomous parameters according to the driving preferences.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein generating the personalization feedback includes acquiring personalization data including at least acquiring electronic feedback inputs from the driver, logging driving data about how the vehicle is proceeding along the route, and logging the manual inputs, and

wherein the driving preferences include at least one of lane position preference, preferences of following distances, velocity preferences, braking preferences, and acceleration preferences.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein generating the feedback includes generating the coaching feedback to induce a driver to adjust the manual inputs, and

wherein generating the coaching feedback includes analyzing the difference in relation to a present environment of the vehicle to identify whether the manual inputs are an acceptable manner for controlling the vehicle and generating the coaching feedback to induce the driver to adjust the manual inputs by generating at least one of forced feedback in a steering wheel, and one or more indicators about the manual inputs to the driver.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein blending the autonomous inputs and the manual inputs generates the collaborative controls that control at least steering of the vehicle, wherein blending includes varying a weight of the manual inputs versus the autonomous inputs according to at least the difference and conditions of a present environment of the vehicle, and

wherein blending provides the collaborative controls as a semi-autonomous control of the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the manual inputs are electronic controls received by the vehicle from a driver through one or more input/output devices of the vehicle, and wherein the autonomous inputs are electronic controls produced by the vehicle for autonomously controlling the vehicle along the route.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Nov 30, 2018
From: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
To: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
Reel/Frame 047688/0784 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 7, 2017
From: ENDO, TERUMASA
To: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 042933/0718 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 7, 2017
From: TOYODA, HEISHIRO
To: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
Reel/Frame 042933/0739 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190009794A1 · Jan 10, 2019
Cited By (7)
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