IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,522,250
Granted Patent B2
US 12,522,250 · App. 18/034,019 · Granted Jan 13, 2026

Vehicle control apparatus, vehicle control method, and non-transitory storage medium

Inventors: Tsukasa Kasuya (Tokyo, JP); Tomoaki Tanaka (Tokyo, JP); Norihiro Ide (Tokyo, JP); Kouichi Ono (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
B60W60/005B60W50/082B60W50/14B60W2540/00
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,522,250
App. No.
18/034,019
Granted
Jan 13, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present invention provides a vehicle control apparatus ( 10 ) including: an acquisition unit ( 11 ) that acquires internal situation information indicating a situation inside a vehicle; a detection unit ( 12 ) that detects a person who satisfies a predetermined condition inside the vehicle, based on the internal situation information; a decision unit ( 13 ) that decides a driving mode of the vehicle, based on whether the person who satisfies the predetermined condition is detected; a processing unit ( 14 ) that performs processing of the decided driving mode; and a notification unit ( 15 ) that notifies an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode.

Claims (45)

1 . A vehicle control apparatus comprising:

at least one memory configured to store one or more instructions; and

at least one processor configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

acquire internal situation information indicating a situation inside a vehicle;

based on the internal situation information, detect a person inside the vehicle who satisfies a predetermined condition;

decide a driving mode of the vehicle based on whether the person is detected;

perform processing of the decided driving mode; and

notify an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode,

wherein the processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

in a case that the person who satisfies the predetermined condition is detected, decide a safety driving mode as a driving mode of the vehicle, and

in a case that the safety driving mode is decided during manual driving operated by a driver of the vehicle, notify an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode upon detecting that at least one measurement value of a velocity, a velocity during a right turn and a left turn, acceleration, deceleration, and a change velocity of a steering angle satisfies a notification condition.

2 . The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to notify a passenger of the vehicle of the decided driving mode.

3 . The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the predetermined condition is a condition based on at least one of presence or absence of riding in a standing state, presence or absence of holding of a strap or a handrail, presence or absence of use of a wheelchair, and an estimated age.

4 . The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to

in a case that the person who satisfies the predetermined condition is detected, decide a safety driving mode as a driving mode of the vehicle, and

in a case that the safety driving mode is decided during automatic driving operated by a system of the vehicle, control at least one of a velocity, a velocity during a right turn and a left turn,-acceleration, deceleration, and a change velocity of a steering angle of the vehicle to be smaller than that in a driving mode other than the safety driving mode.

5 . The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to

in a case that the person who satisfies the predetermined condition is detected, decide a safety driving mode as a driving mode of the vehicle, and

in a case that the safety driving mode is decided during manual driving operated by a driver of the vehicle, monitor whether it is satisfied that at least one of a velocity, a velocity during a right turn and a left turn, acceleration, deceleration, and a change velocity of a steering angle of a handle is equal to or less than a threshold value, and notify the driver of the vehicle of a warning in a case that it is not satisfied.

6 . The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to;

in a case that the safety driving mode is decided during automatic driving operated by a system of the vehicle, notify an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode.

7 . The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to notify an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode by at least one of vehicle-to-vehicle communication, road-to-vehicle communication, and displaying on a display-located outside of the vehicle.

8 . The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to decide a driving mode of the vehicle based on a number of detected persons who satisfy the predetermined condition.

9 . A vehicle control method comprising, by a computer:

acquiring internal situation information indicating a situation inside a vehicle;

based on the internal situation information, detecting a person inside the vehicle who satisfies a predetermined condition;

deciding a driving mode of the vehicle based on whether the person is detected;

performing processing of the decided driving mode; and

notifying an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode

wherein the vehicle control method further comprises:

in a case that the person who satisfies the predetermined condition is detected, deciding a safety driving mode as a driving mode of the vehicle, and

in a case that the safety driving mode is decided during manual driving operated by a driver of the vehicle, notifying an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode upon detecting that at least one measurement value of a velocity, a velocity during a right turn and a left turn, acceleration, deceleration, and a change velocity of a steering angle satisfies a notification condition.

10 . A non-transitory storage medium storing a program causing a computer to:

acquire internal situation information indicating a situation inside a vehicle;

based on the internal situation information, detect a person inside the vehicle who satisfies a predetermined condition;

decide a driving mode of the vehicle based on whether the person is detected;

perform processing of the decided driving mode; and

notify an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode

wherein the program further causing the computer to:

in a case that the person who satisfies the predetermined condition is detected, decide a safety driving mode as a driving mode of the vehicle, and

in a case that the safety driving mode is decided during manual driving operated by a driver of the vehicle, notify an outside of the vehicle of the decided driving mode upon detecting that at least one measurement value of a velocity, a velocity during a right turn and a left turn, acceleration, deceleration, and a change velocity of a steering angle satisfies a notification condition.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 26, 2023
From: KASUYA, TSUKASA; TANAKA, TOMOAKI; IDE, NORIHIRO; ONO, KOUICHI
To: NEC CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063453/0653 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230382431A1 · Nov 30, 2023
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