IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,485,886
Granted Patent B2
US 12,485,886 · App. 18/586,623 · Granted Dec 2, 2025

Vehicle

Inventors: Sho Hashimoto (Susono, JP); Satoshi Nakamura (Shizuoka-ken, JP); Tomoki Somiya (Okazaki, JP); Kazumasa Harada (Nagakute, JP); Hiroki Yabushita (Toyota, JP); Sei Miyazaki (Susono, JP); Yuki Nishikawa (Numazu, JP); Noriaki Hasegawa (Izunokuni, JP)
Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
B60W30/09B60W60/0011
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,485,886
App. No.
18/586,623
Granted
Dec 2, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A vehicle includes an interface unit and a preventive safety device. The preventive safety device includes a performance evaluation unit that performs evaluation of driving performance of the autonomous driving kit, and a suppression unit that suppresses a cancel signal output from the autonomous driving kit to cancel the preventive safety function based on the evaluation of the driving performance.

Claims (20)

1 . A vehicle comprising:

an interface unit; and

a preventive safety device, the interface unit being configured to communicate with an autonomous driving kit configured to be attachable to and detachable from the vehicle, and giving a control instruction related to autonomous driving control to each part of the vehicle based on an instruction from the autonomous driving kit, and the preventive safety device implementing a preventive safety function of the vehicle, wherein

the preventive safety device includes a performance evaluation unit that performs evaluation of driving performance of the autonomous driving kit represented by an evaluation value, and

the preventive safety device includes a suppression unit that suppresses a cancel signal output from the autonomous driving kit to cancel the preventive safety function based on the evaluation of the driving performance,

wherein the suppression unit executes one of a plurality of suppression operations depending on the evaluation value, including:

a first suppression in which the cancel signal is discarded and the preventive safety function is executed in a case where the evaluation value is smaller than a first threshold;

a second suppression in which, in a case where the evaluation value is greater than or equal to the first threshold and smaller than a second threshold, a control amount of the preventive safety function is suppressed instead of canceling the preventive safety function; and

a third suppression in which, in a case where the evaluation value is greater than or equal to the second threshold and smaller than a third threshold, a time required from when the preventive safety device receives the cancel signal until the preventive safety function is canceled is extended,

wherein the first threshold is smaller than the second threshold, and the second threshold is smaller than the third threshold.

2 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the performance evaluation unit is configured to reduce the evaluation value of the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit by a predetermined amount in a case where the vehicle is approaching an object and a distance between the vehicle and the object becomes shorter than a predetermined distance, based on information obtained from a recognition sensor mounted on the vehicle.

3 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the performance evaluation unit is configured to reduce the evaluation value of the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit by a predetermined amount in a case where at least one of (i) a speed of the vehicle exceeding a speed limit, (ii) an acceleration of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined acceleration, and (iii) a jerk of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined jerk value is detected, based on information obtained from a travel state sensor mounted on the vehicle.

4 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the performance evaluation unit is configured to change a reference value used to evaluate the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit based on weather-related information obtained from an external environment sensor mounted on the vehicle.

5 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the performance evaluation unit is configured to reduce the evaluation value of the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit by a predetermined amount in a case where an occupant in the vehicle is determined to have a grim or nervous facial expression, based on information obtained from an in-vehicle environment sensor that performs image processing on an image of the occupant.

6 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the performance evaluation unit is configured to reduce the evaluation value of the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit by a predetermined amount in a case where a frequency at which the preventive safety device performs intervention in a travel control device exceeds a predetermined threshold, the intervention including a lane departure prevention control.

7 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the performance evaluation unit is configured to reduce the evaluation value of the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit by a predetermined amount in at least one of the following cases where:

the vehicle is approaching an object and a distance between the vehicle and the object becomes shorter than a predetermined distance, based on information obtained from a recognition sensor mounted on the vehicle,

at least one of (i) a speed of the vehicle exceeding a speed limit, (ii) an acceleration of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined acceleration, and (iii) a jerk of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined jerk value is detected, based on information obtained from a travel state sensor mounted on the vehicle,

an occupant in the vehicle is determined to have a grim or nervous facial expression, based on information obtained from an in-vehicle environment sensor that performs image processing on an image of the occupant, and

a frequency at which the preventive safety device performs intervention in a travel control device exceeds a predetermined threshold, the intervention including a lane departure prevention control.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 26, 2024
From: HASHIMOTO, SHO; NAKAMURA, SATOSHI; SOMIYA, TOMOKI; HARADA, KAZUMASA; YABUSHITA, HIROKI; MIYAZAKI, SEI; NISHIKAWA, YUKI; HASEGAWA, NORIAKI
To: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 066555/0012 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2023-029992 · Feb 28, 2023 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240286605A1 · Aug 29, 2024
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