IP Library Granted Patent US 11,840,264
Granted Patent B2
US 11,840,264 · App. 17/566,041 · Granted Dec 12, 2023

Autonomous driving vehicle system

Inventors: Hiromitsu Urano (Numazu, JP); Kentaro Ichikawa (Shizuoka-ken, JP); Taisuke Sugaiwa (Susono, JP); Toshiki Kindo (Yokohama, JP)
Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
B60W60/0055B60W50/10G05D1/0278B60W50/082B60W2420/403B60W2420/52B60W2520/10B60W2520/105B60W2520/14B60W2540/10B60W2540/12B60W2540/18B60W2540/215B60W2710/202B60W2900/00G05D2201/0213
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,840,264
App. No.
17/566,041
Granted
Dec 12, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system includes an acquisition unit that acquires an operation amount or a duration count, and a switching unit that switches a driving state. The switching unit switches the driving state to the cooperative driving state when the operation amount is equal to or greater than an intervention threshold and less than a start threshold or the duration count is equal to or greater than a first threshold and less than a second threshold during the autonomous driving state, switches the driving state to the autonomous driving state when the operation amount is less than the intervention threshold or the duration count is less than the first threshold during the cooperative driving state, and switches the driving state to the manual driving state when the operation amount is equal to or greater than the start threshold or the duration count is equal to or greater than the second threshold.

Claims (49)

1. An autonomous driving vehicle system configured to switch a driving state of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a steering sensor configured to acquire an operation amount of a steering operation of a driver; and

at least one electronic control unit (ECU) programmed to:

based on the operation amount, switch among a first state where the vehicle travels without the steering operation of the driver, a second state where the vehicle travels based on at least one of the steering operation of the driver and an autonomous steering control by the autonomous driving vehicle system, and a third state where the vehicle travels by manual steering operation of the driver, switch

the driving state to the second state when the driving state is the first state, and the operation amount is equal to or greater than a first threshold value and less than a second threshold value, and

switch the driving state to the third state when the driving state is the second state, and the operation amount is equal to or greater than the second threshold value.

2. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein

the steering sensor is configured to acquire a difference between a rotation state detection value of a steering wheel of the vehicle and a control target value of the steering wheel included in a traveling plan as the operation amount, and

wherein the traveling plan is along a target route set in advance on a map, wherein the at least one ECU is programmed to generate the traveling plan.

3. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein,

when the driving state enters the third state, the at least one ECU is programmed to maintain the driving state in the third state even when the operation amount becomes less than the second threshold value.

4. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 3 , further comprising:

an input unit configured to input a request operation for starting autonomous driving,

wherein the at least one ECU is programmed to maintain the driving state in the third state until the request operation is input to the input unit when the driving state is the third state.

5. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein,

after the driving state is switched from the first state to the second state, when the operation amount becomes less than the first threshold value and equal to or greater than a predetermined hysteresis threshold value, the at least one ECU is programmed to maintain the driving state in the second state.

6. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein,

a control target value of a steering wheel is based on a traveling plan along a target route set in advance on a map, wherein the at least one ECU is programmed to generate the traveling plan, and

when the driving state is the second state, cooperative driving is performed using a value obtained by weighting the operation amount and the control target value based on the traveling plan, and a weight of weighting when the operation amount is equal to or greater than a determination threshold value is different from the weight of weighting when the operation amount is less than the determination threshold value.

7. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein

a control target value of a steering wheel is based on a traveling plan along a target route set in advance on a map, wherein the at least one ECU is programmed to generate the traveling plan, and

when the steering wheel of the vehicle rotates according to the control target value of the steering wheel included in the traveling plan, the steering sensor acquires a difference between a steering torque detection value of the steering wheel of the vehicle and a steering torque control target value included in the traveling plan as the operation amount.

8. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein

when the driving state enters the third state, the at least one ECU is programmed to maintain the driving state in the third state for a time period determined in advance.

9. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein

a duration count is a time period during which the operation amount, which is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, is continued, and

wherein the at least one ECU is programmed to switch the driving state to the third state when the driving state is the first state, and when the duration count is equal to or more than a time period set in advance.

10. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 9 , wherein

when the driving operation equal to or greater than the first threshold value is no longer acquired by the steering sensor, the at least one ECU is programmed to reset the duration count to 0 and switch the driving state to the first state.

11. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 9 , wherein

when the driving operation equal to or greater than the first threshold value is no longer acquired by the steering sensor, the at least one ECU is programmed to store in a memory a previous value of the duration count, and set the stored previous value as an initial value of the duration count when the driving operation is resumed.

12. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 9 , wherein

when the driving operation equal to or greater than the first threshold value is no longer acquired by the steering sensor, the at least one ECU is programmed to store in a memory a previous value of the duration count, subtract an integrated value from the previous value stored in the memory according to a lapse interval corresponding to an interruption of the driving operation, and set the subtracted previous value as an initial value of the duration count when the driving operation is resumed.

13. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , wherein

in the third state, the operation amount is reflected in the traveling of the vehicle.

14. The autonomous driving vehicle system according to claim 1 , further comprising

a Human Machine Interface (HMI) including an autonomous driving ON/OFF switch configured to input a request operation of starting autonomous driving.

15. An autonomous driving vehicle system configured to switch a driving state of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a means for acquiring an operation amount of a steering operation of a driver; and

a means for switching a driving state, based on the operation amount, among a first state where the vehicle travels without the steering operation of the driver, a second state where the vehicle travels based on at least one of the steering operation of the driver and an autonomous steering control by the autonomous driving vehicle system, and a third state where the vehicle travels by manual steering operation of the driver,

wherein the means for switching the driving state is configured to:

switch the driving state to the second state when the driving state is the first state, and the operation amount is equal to or greater than a first threshold value and less than a second threshold value, and

switch the driving state to the third state when the driving state is the second state, and the operation amount is equal to or greater than the second threshold value.

16. A method of switching a driving state of a vehicle having autonomous driving vehicle control, the method comprising:

acquiring an operation amount of a steering operation of a driver; and

switching a driving state, based on the operation amount, among a first state where the vehicle travels without the steering operation of the driver, a second state where the vehicle travels based on at least one of the steering operation of the driver and an autonomous steering control by the autonomous driving vehicle system, and a third state where the vehicle travels by manual steering operation of the driver,

wherein the switching the driving state comprises

switching the driving state to the second state when the driving state is the first state, and the operation amount is equal to or greater than a first threshold value and less than a second threshold value, and

switching the driving state to the third state when the driving state is the second state, and the operation amount is equal to or greater than the second threshold value.

Priority Claims (1)
JP 2015-008141 · Jan 19, 2015 · national
Continuity (5)
Continuation 17514613 · Oct 29, 2021
Continuation 16845260 · Apr 10, 2020
Continuation 15805544 · Nov 7, 2017
Continuation 15000467 · Jan 19, 2016
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