IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,204,349
Granted Patent B2
US 12,204,349 · App. 18/202,660 · Granted Jan 21, 2025

Vehicle remote instruction system

Inventors: Sho Otaki (Yokohama Kanagawa, JP); Takayuki Iwamoto (Sunto-gun Shizuoka, JP)
Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
G05D1/617B60W50/14B60W60/001G05D1/0011G05D1/0038G05D1/223G05D1/2247G05D1/2427G06V20/56G06V20/58G06V20/588G08G1/096725B60W2555/00G01C21/3863G05D2101/20G08G1/01
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,204,349
App. No.
18/202,660
Filed
May 26, 2023
Granted
Jan 21, 2025
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3662
USPC
701/2
Abstract

In a vehicle remote instruction system, a remote commander issues a remote instruction relating to travel of an autonomous driving vehicle based on sensor information from an external sensor that detects an external environment of the autonomous driving vehicle. The vehicle remote instruction system sets a range of information to be transmitted to the remote commander among the sensor information detected by the external sensor, as a limited information range, based on the external situation or an external situation obtained based on map information and a trajectory of the autonomous driving vehicle.

Claims (33)

1. A vehicle control device configured to recognize an external situation based on captured images from cameras including a front camera that captures an image in a front direction of a vehicle, a right camera that includes in an image capturing region, a region more toward a right direction than an image capturing region of the front camera, a left camera that includes in an image capturing region, a region more toward a left direction than the image capturing region of the front camera, and a rear camera that captures an image in a rear direction of the vehicle, and configured to control travel of the vehicle by a remote instruction relating to the travel of the vehicle provided from a remote commander, the vehicle control device comprising:

an electronic control unit configured to:

transmit to the remote commander, the captured images of the right camera and the left camera among the captured images captured by the cameras when the vehicle travels through an intersection where a traffic signal is not installed;

not transmit to the remote commander, at least one of the captured images of the front camera and the rear camera when the vehicle travels through the intersection where the traffic signal is not installed; and

when an obstacle is detected by a sensor, select the captured images from the right camera and the left camera as data to be transmitted to the remote commander, and not select the captured image from at least one of the front camera and the rear camera.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , the vehicle is caused to start moving when a changing instruction of a position and attitude of the vehicle is received from the remote commander, or when the remote instruction based on a confirmation result of the captured images of the right camera and the left camera transmitted by the electronic control unit is received from the remote commander.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein notification information is transmitted to the remote commander when a situation in which an intersection road intersecting a road through which the vehicle travels cannot be detected by the captured images of the right camera and the left camera.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 3 , wherein the situation in which the intersection road cannot be detected is a case when a shielded region caused by a wall is included in an image capturing range of the right camera and the left camera.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 3 , wherein the vehicle is stopped after proceeding for a preset distance or attachment position and attitude of the cameras is changed once the notification information has been transmitted.

6. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein information provision relating to the travel of the vehicle or remote operation is requested from a remote controller while the vehicle is traveling.

7. A vehicle control method performed by a vehicle control device configured to recognize an external situation based on captured images from cameras including a front camera that captures an image in a front direction of a vehicle, a right camera that includes in an image capturing region, a region more toward a right direction than an image capturing region of the front camera, a left camera that includes in an image capturing region, a region more toward a left direction than the image capturing region of the front camera, and a rear camera that captures an image in a rear direction of the vehicle, and configured to control travel of the vehicle by a remote instruction relating to the travel of the vehicle provided from a remote commander, the vehicle control method comprising:

transmitting to the remote commander the captured images of the right camera and the left camera among the captured images captured by the cameras when the vehicle travels through an intersection where a traffic signal is not installed;

not transmitting to the remote commander, at least one of the captured images of the front camera and the rear camera when the vehicle travels through the intersection where the traffic signal is not installed; and

when an obstacle is detected by a sensor, selecting the captured images from the right camera and the left camera as data to be transmitted to the remote commander, and not selecting the captured image from at least one of the front camera and the rear camera.

8. The vehicle control method according to claim 7 , comprising:

causing the vehicle to start moving when a changing instruction of a position and attitude of the vehicle is received from the remote commander, or when the remote instruction based on a confirmation result of the captured images of the right camera and the left camera is received from the remote commander.

9. The vehicle control method according to claim 7 , comprising:

transmitting notification information to the remote commander when a situation in which an intersection road intersecting a road through which the vehicle travels cannot be detected by the captured images of the right camera and the left camera.

10. The vehicle control method according to claim 9 , wherein the situation in which the intersection road cannot be detected is a case when a shielded region caused by a wall is included in an image capturing range of the right camera and the left camera.

11. The vehicle control method according to claim 9 , comprising:

stopping the vehicle after proceeding for a preset distance or changing attachment position and attitude of the cameras once the notification information has been transmitted.

12. The vehicle control method according to claim 7 , comprising:

requesting information provision relating to the travel of the vehicle or remote operation from a remote controller while the vehicle is traveling.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store a vehicle control program operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle control device configured to recognize an external situation based on captured images from cameras including a front camera that captures an image in a front direction of a vehicle, a right camera that includes in an image capturing region, a region more toward a right direction than an image capturing region of the front camera, a left camera that includes in an image capturing region, a region more toward a left direction than the image capturing region of the front camera, and a rear camera that captures an image in a rear direction of the vehicle, and configured to control travel of the vehicle by a remote instruction relating to the travel of the vehicle provided from a remote commander,

wherein the vehicle control program operates the electronic control unit as a transmission unit configured to:

transmit to the remote commander, the captured images of the right camera and the left camera among the captured images captured by the cameras when the vehicle travels through an intersection where a traffic signal is not installed;

not transmit to the remote commander, at least one of the captured images of the front camera and the rear camera when the vehicle travels through the intersection where the traffic signal is not installed; and

when an obstacle is detected by a sensor, select the captured images from the right camera and the left camera as data to be transmitted to the remote commander, and not select the captured image from at least one of the front camera and the rear camera.

14. The storage medium according to claim 13 , wherein the vehicle control program operates the electronic control unit so as to cause the vehicle to start moving when a changing instruction of a position and attitude of the vehicle is received from the remote commander, or when the remote instruction based on a confirmation result of the captured images of the right camera and the left camera transmitted by the transmission unit is received from the remote commander.

15. The storage medium according to claim 13 , wherein the vehicle control program operates the electronic control unit so as to transmit notification information to the remote commander when a situation in which an intersection road intersecting a road through which the vehicle travels cannot be detected by the captured images of the right camera and the left camera.

16. The storage medium according to claim 15 , wherein the situation in which the intersection road cannot be detected is a case when a shielded region caused by a wall is included in an image capturing range of the right camera and the left camera.

17. The storage medium according to claim 15 , wherein the vehicle control program operates the electronic control unit so as to stop the vehicle after proceeding for a preset distance or change attachment position and attitude of the cameras once the notification information has been transmitted.

18. The storage medium according to claim 13 , wherein the vehicle control program operates the electronic control unit so as to request information provision relating to the travel of the vehicle or remote operation from a remote controller while the vehicle is traveling.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 26, 2023
From: OTAKI, SHO; IWAMOTO, TAKAYUKI
To: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 063776/0599 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2019-163066 · Sep 6, 2019 · national
Continuity (3)
Continuation 18202652 · May 26, 2023
Continuation 17004449 · Aug 27, 2020
Related Publication 20230324902A1 · Oct 12, 2023
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