Lane change system for platoon of vehicles
First Claim
1. A platoon control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles traveling together as a platoon, said platoon control system comprising:
- a platoon control in communication with a plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls disposed at respective platoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles;
wherein each individual platoon vehicle control of said plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls is associated with a respective platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane, and wherein the platoon of vehicles comprises a lead platoon vehicle, a last platoon vehicle and at least one middle platoon vehicle between the lead platoon vehicle and the last platoon vehicle;
wherein at least one sensor disposed at each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles senses a region of another traffic lane immediately adjacent to the initial traffic lane to determine if another vehicle is present in the other traffic lane at or near the respective platoon vehicle;
wherein, responsive to said at least one sensor disposed at each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, said platoon control determines if there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane;
wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle to maneuver the respective platoon vehicle from the initial traffic lane traveled by the platoon of vehicles to the other traffic lane in a manner that limits or precludes other vehicles from interrupting the platoon of vehicles as they maneuver into the other traffic lane; and
wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle so that the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles enters the other traffic lane first and then the other platoon vehicles enter the other traffic lane ahead of the last vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A platoon control system includes a platoon control in communication with a plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls associated with respective platoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane. The platoon control determines if there is sufficient clearance in another lane for the platoon of vehicles. Responsive to the platoon control, the individual platoon vehicle controls control the respective platoon vehicles to maneuver the platoon vehicles from the initial traffic lane to the other lane in a manner that limits or substantially precludes other vehicles from interrupting the platoon of vehicles. Responsive to the platoon control, the individual platoon vehicle controls control the respective platoon vehicles so that the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles enters the other lane first and then the other platoon vehicles enter the other lane ahead of the last vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner.
21 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A platoon control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles traveling together as a platoon, said platoon control system comprising:
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a platoon control in communication with a plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls disposed at respective platoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles; wherein each individual platoon vehicle control of said plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls is associated with a respective platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane, and wherein the platoon of vehicles comprises a lead platoon vehicle, a last platoon vehicle and at least one middle platoon vehicle between the lead platoon vehicle and the last platoon vehicle; wherein at least one sensor disposed at each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles senses a region of another traffic lane immediately adjacent to the initial traffic lane to determine if another vehicle is present in the other traffic lane at or near the respective platoon vehicle; wherein, responsive to said at least one sensor disposed at each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, said platoon control determines if there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane; wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle to maneuver the respective platoon vehicle from the initial traffic lane traveled by the platoon of vehicles to the other traffic lane in a manner that limits or precludes other vehicles from interrupting the platoon of vehicles as they maneuver into the other traffic lane; and wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle so that the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles enters the other traffic lane first and then the other platoon vehicles enter the other traffic lane ahead of the last vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A platoon control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles traveling together as a platoon, said platoon control system comprising:
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a platoon control in communication with a plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls disposed at respective platoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles; wherein each individual platoon vehicle control of said plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls is associated with a respective platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane, and wherein the platoon of vehicles comprises a lead platoon vehicle, a last platoon vehicle and at least one middle platoon vehicle between the lead platoon vehicle and the last platoon vehicle; wherein said platoon control is disposed at one of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles; wherein at least one short range sensing system disposed at each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles senses a region of another traffic lane immediately adjacent to the initial traffic lane to determine if another vehicle is present in the other traffic lane at or near the respective platoon vehicle; wherein, responsive to said at least one short range sensing system of each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, said platoon control determines if there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane; wherein, responsive to a determination by said platoon control that a vehicle or obstacle is in the initial traffic lane ahead of the platoon of vehicles, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle to maneuver the respective platoon vehicle from the initial traffic lane traveled by the platoon vehicles to the other traffic lane in a manner that limits or precludes other vehicles from interrupting the platoon of vehicles as they maneuver into the other traffic lane; and wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle so that the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles enters the other traffic lane first and then the middle platoon vehicles and the lead platoon vehicle enter the other traffic lane ahead of the last vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A platoon control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles traveling together as a platoon, said platoon control system comprising:
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a platoon control in communication with a plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls disposed at respective platoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles; wherein each individual platoon vehicle control of said plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls is associated with a respective platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane, and wherein the platoon of vehicles comprises a lead platoon vehicle, a last platoon vehicle and at least one middle platoon vehicle between the lead platoon vehicle and the last platoon vehicle; wherein a short range sensing system disposed at each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles senses a region of another traffic lane immediately adjacent to the initial traffic lane to determine if another vehicle is present in the other traffic lane at or near the respective platoon vehicle; wherein, responsive to said short range sensing system of each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, said platoon control determines if there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane; wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle to maneuver the platoon vehicles from the initial traffic lane traveled by the platoon vehicles to the other traffic lane in a manner that limits or precludes other vehicles from interrupting the platoon of vehicles as they maneuver into the other traffic lane; wherein, responsive to said platoon control, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle so that, responsive to a determination by said platoon control of clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles enters the other traffic lane first and then the middle platoon vehicles and the lead platoon vehicle enter the other traffic lane ahead of the last vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner; wherein the predetermined controlled manner comprises one of (i) maneuvering the platoon vehicles so that the platoon vehicles enter the other traffic lane in order from the last platoon vehicle to the lead platoon vehicle and (ii) maneuvering the platoon vehicles so that the platoon vehicles enter the other traffic lane in a different order than they were in the initial traffic lane; and wherein, responsive to said platoon control, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls at least (i) an accelerator of the respective platoon vehicle, (ii) steering of the respective platoon vehicle, (iii) a brake system of the respective platoon vehicle and (iv) a turn signal indicator of the respective platoon vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification