Autonomous driving device

• US 10,642,278 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2018
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsui, Hideyuki, Kindo, Toshiki
• Primary Examiner(s): Sweeney, Brian P
• Application Number:
  US16/035,794
• Publication Number:
  US 20190064843A1
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: 701 23
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/082 Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/30 Map- or contour-matching
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3848 Data obtained from both position sensors and additional sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0061 for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

An autonomous driving device includes a map recording a content having different type for each position while one or a plurality of contents and positions are associated with each other, an acquisition unit acquiring the content corresponding to a first position on the map, a specification storage unit storing a plurality of autonomous driving modes of the vehicle and the type of content necessary for the execution of the modes in association with each other, a selection unit selecting an executable autonomous driving mode based on the type of content acquired by the acquisition unit and the type of content stored in the specification storage unit, and a control unit controlling the vehicle at the first position in the selected autonomous driving mode, the selection unit determines one autonomous driving mode based on an order of priority set in advance when there is a plurality of executable autonomous driving modes.

Claims

1. An autonomous driving device configured to perform an autonomous driving of a vehicle, comprising:

a map that stores map information, including a plurality of contents and positions that are associated with each other;

a database including a plurality of autonomous driving modes of the vehicle and a type of content necessary for an execution of the modes in association with each other; and

an electronic control unit programmed to;

acquire the content in the map that corresponds to a first position of the vehicle detected by a sensor of the vehicle;

select an executable autonomous driving mode from the plurality of autonomous driving modes based on the type of content acquired corresponding to the first position and the type of content stored in the database; and

control the vehicle at the first position in the autonomous driving mode that has been selected,

wherein one autonomous driving mode is selected based on an order of priority set in advance when there is a plurality of the executable autonomous driving modes.

2. The autonomous driving device according to claim 1,

wherein the map is configured to record information on a stationary object as the content,

the plurality of autonomous driving modes includes a first autonomous driving mode in which the information on the stationary object is acquired from the map and a second autonomous driving mode in which the information on the stationary object is acquired from a result of detection performed by the sensor, and

the electronic control unit is programmed to preferentially select the second autonomous driving mode than the first autonomous driving mode, when the content acquired is the information on the stationary object and a current season is a season in which the information on the stationary object is sparse compared to the other seasons.

3. The autonomous driving device according to claim 1,

wherein the map is configured to record information on a stationary object as the content,

the information on the stationary object includes a position of the stationary object and a rate of variation indicating a change of the stationary object per a unit time,

the plurality of autonomous driving mode includes a first autonomous driving mode in which the information on the stationary object is acquired from the map and a second autonomous driving mode in which the information on the stationary object is acquired from a result of detection performed by a sensor, and

the electronic control unit is programmed to preferentially select the second autonomous driving mode than the first autonomous driving mode when the content acquired is the information on the stationary object and the rate of variation is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

4. The autonomous driving device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a history database that includes the autonomous driving mode selected by the selection unit and history information on a presence or absence of an override in association with each other,

wherein the electronic control unit is programmed to not select the autonomous driving mode having an override occurrence rate equal to or greater than a predetermined value referring to the history database.

5. The autonomous driving device according to claim 1,

wherein the electronic control unit is further programmed to:

measure a position of the vehicle via communication;

determine a plurality of consecutive scheduled traveling positions on the map based on the measured position of the vehicle,

select the executable autonomous driving mode at each of the plurality of consecutive scheduled traveling positions on the map, and

select the autonomous driving mode commonly executable at all the scheduled traveling positions from the executable autonomous driving modes selected for each of the scheduled traveling positions, as the autonomous driving mode executable at each of the plurality of consecutive scheduled traveling positions on the map.