Autonomous vehicle emergency operating mode for communicating with surroundings and seeking emergency medical attention

1. A vehicle device comprising:

a physical condition monitoring unit configured to monitor a physical condition of a driver in a driving state of a vehicle;

an awakening operation execution unit configured to execute an awakening operation in response to the physical condition of the driver being determined to be abnormal by the physical condition monitoring unit;

an abnormality resolution determination unit configured to determine whether the abnormal physical condition of the driver is resolved by the awakening operation executed by the awakening operation execution unit;

a travelling control unit configured to control the vehicle to travel in a manual travelling mode or in an autonomous travelling mode;

an emergency autonomous travelling execution unit configured to execute an emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle by instructing the travelling control unit to control the vehicle travel in the autonomous travelling mode in response to the abnormality resolution determination unit determining that the abnormal physical condition of the driver is not resolved;

an emergency autonomous travelling notification unit configured to notify a surrounding of the vehicle that the vehicle is in a state of the emergency autonomous travelling while the emergency autonomous travelling execution unit executes the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle;

a first rescue request execution unit configured to execute a first rescue request which indicates the driver is having an ongoing emergency situation in travelling state toward the surrounding of the vehicle while the emergency autonomous travelling execution unit executes the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle;

a facility search unit configured to search for a facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver in response to the abnormality resolution determination unit determining that the abnormal physical condition of the driver is not resolved; and

a second rescue request execution unit configured to execute a second rescue request which indicates the driver is having an ongoing emergency situation after arrival toward the surrounding of the vehicle in response to the vehicle arriving at another facility and being stopped, the second rescue request after arrival being different from the first rescue request in travelling state,

wherein

the emergency autonomous travelling execution unit sets the facility specified by the facility search unit as a destination in response to the facility search unit specifying the facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver, and executes the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle to the destination,

the emergency autonomous travelling execution unit sets the another facility as a destination in response to the facility search unit failing to specify the facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver, and executes the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle to the destination,

the emergency autonomous travelling notification unit displays, toward an outer surrounding of the vehicle, a message, including a description of the emergency in the form of a text and/or an image, indicating that the vehicle is in an emergency autonomous travelling state and the driver needs rescue,

in response to determining that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the emergency autonomous travelling execution unit ends the emergency autonomous travelling and the first rescue request execution unit ends the first rescue request in travelling state, and then the second rescue request execution unit determines whether to start and execute the second rescue request after arrival, and

in response to determining that the second rescue request after arrival is necessary to be started and executed, the second rescue request execution unit starts and executes the second rescue request after arrival.

2. The vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein

the first rescue request execution unit executes the first rescue request in travelling state toward the surrounding of the vehicle by a dialogue agent function which projects a combination of either or both text and images which provide information as to the driver's state.

3. The vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein

the second rescue request execution unit executes the second rescue request after arrival toward the surrounding of the vehicle by a dialogue agent function which projects a combination of either or both text and images which provide information as to the driver's state.

4. The vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein the message indicating that the vehicle is in the emergency autonomous travelling state and the driver needs rescue is projected on a rear window or a side window of the vehicle toward the outer surrounding of the vehicle and/or is displayed toward the outer surrounding of the vehicle on a display device, which is attached to an outer portion of the vehicle.

5. The vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein

when the another facility, which is not a medical institution capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver, is set as the destination and the vehicle arrives and stops at the destination by the emergency autonomous travelling, the second rescue request execution unit determines that the second rescue request after arrival is necessary to be started and executed.

6. The vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein

the emergency autonomous travelling notification unit displays the message toward the outer surrounding of the vehicle only when presence of another vehicle or pedestrian is detected around the vehicle, wherein the detection is based on a predetermined range of a vehicle peripheral detection sensor.

7. A drive assist program product, which is stored in a tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions to be executed by a controller of a vehicle device, the instructions comprising:

monitoring a physical condition of a driver in a driving state of a vehicle;

executing an awakening operation in response to the physical condition of the driver being determined to be abnormal;

determining whether the abnormal physical condition of the driver being resolved by an execution of the awakening operation;

executing an emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle by controlling the vehicle to travel in an autonomous travelling mode in response to the abnormal physical condition of the driver being determined to be not resolved by the execution of the awakening operation;

notifying a surrounding of the vehicle that the vehicle is in a state of the emergency autonomous travelling while the emergency autonomous travelling is being executed;

executing a first rescue request which indicates the driver is having an ongoing emergency situation in travelling state toward the surrounding of the vehicle while the emergency autonomous travelling is being executed;

searching for a facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver in response to the abnormal physical condition of the driver being determined to be not resolved;

setting the facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver as a destination in response to the facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver being specified and executing the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle to the destination;

setting another facility as a destination in response to no facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver being specified and executing the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle to the destination;

executing a second rescue request which indicates the driver is having an ongoing emergency situation after arrival toward the surrounding of the vehicle in response to the vehicle arriving at the another facility and being stopped, the second rescue request after arrival being different from the first rescue request in travelling state; and

displaying, toward an outer surrounding of the vehicle, a message, including a description of the emergency in the form of a text and/or an image, indicating that the vehicle is in an emergency autonomous travelling state and the driver needs rescue, wherein

in response to determining that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the controller ends the emergency autonomous travelling and the first rescue request in travelling state, and then determines whether to start and execute the second rescue request after arrival, and

in response to determining that the second rescue request after arrival is necessary to be started and executed, the controller starts and executes the second rescue request after arrival.

8. A vehicle device comprising:

a processor that executes a computer program stored in a tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the processor being configured to:

monitor a physical condition of a driver in a driving state of a vehicle and determine whether the physical condition of the driver is abnormal;

execute an awakening operation in response to the physical condition of the driver being determined to be abnormal;

determine whether the abnormal physical condition of the driver is resolved by an execution of the awakening operation;

control the vehicle to travel in a manual travelling mode or in an autonomous travelling mode;

execute an emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle by controlling the vehicle to travel in the autonomous travelling mode in response to the abnormal physical condition of the driver being determined to be not resolved;

notify a surrounding of the vehicle that the vehicle is in a state of the emergency autonomous travelling while the emergency autonomous travelling is being executed;

execute a first rescue request which indicates the driver is having an ongoing emergency situation in travelling state toward the surrounding of the vehicle while the emergency autonomous travelling is being executed;

search for a facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver in response to the abnormal physical condition of the driver being determined to be not resolved;

set the facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver as a destination in response to the facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver being specified and executing the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle to the destination;

set another facility as a destination in response to no facility capable of treating the abnormal physical condition of the driver being specified and executing the emergency autonomous travelling of the vehicle to the destination;

execute a second rescue request which indicates the driver is having an ongoing emergency situation after arrival toward the surrounding of the vehicle in response to the vehicle arriving at the another facility and being stopped, the second rescue request after arrival being different from the first rescue request in travelling state; and

display, toward an outer surrounding of the vehicle, a message, including a description of the emergency in the form of a text and/or an image, indicating that the vehicle is in an emergency autonomous travelling state and the driver needs rescue, wherein

in response to determining that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the processor ends the emergency autonomous travelling and the first rescue request in travelling state, and then determines whether to start and execute the second rescue request after arrival, and

in response to determining that the second rescue request after arrival is necessary to be started and executed, the processor starts and executes the second rescue request after arrival.