Information Presenting Apparatus and Information Presenting Method

• US 20170038774A1
• Filed: 04/25/2014
• Published: 02/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Ebina, Akihiko
• Granted Patent: US 10,001,777 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/02 electric constitutive elements
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0818 Inactivity or incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/20 Data confidence level
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 Predicting future conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/082 Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0053 from vehicle to occupant
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0057 Estimation of the time available or required for the handover
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0059 Estimation of the risk associated with autonomous or manual driving, e.g. situation too complex, sensor failure or driver incapacity
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08

Abstract

An information presenting apparatus includes a system confidence level calculator configured to calculate a system confidence level of autonomous driving control, an information presenter configured to present, to a driver, information on allowableness of an action other than driving, and an information presentation controller configured to control switching of a content of the information presented on the information presenter according to the system confidence level calculated by the system confidence level calculator.

Claims

1. An information presenting apparatus for use in an autonomous vehicle capable of switching, based on a travelling condition of the vehicle and an outside circumstance of the vehicle, between autonomous driving control, in which the vehicle is driven autonomously, and manual driving control, in which the vehicle is driven by a driver, the information presenting apparatus comprising:

a system confidence level calculator configured to calculate a system confidence level which indicates a status of a control system when executing the autonomous driving control;

an information display configured to present, to the driver, information on allowableness of an action other than driving; and

an information presentation controller configured to control switching of a content of the information presented on the information display according to a result of comparison between the system confidence level calculated by the system confidence level calculator and a predetermined threshold.

2. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein as the information on allowableness of an action other than driving, the information presentation controller presents, on the information display, information indicating an action that the driver is allowed to perform other than driving.

3. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

as the information on allowableness of an action other than driving, the information presentation controller presents, on the information display, information indicating an action that the driver is not allowed to perform other than driving.

4. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the system confidence level calculator calculates the system confidence level based on at least one of a detection rate of a sensor used for the autonomous driving control, a load rate of a central processing unit used for the autonomous driving control, and fidelity of a path to a computed result of a target value.

5. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an arrival estimating circuit configured to estimate arrival time which is time required for the vehicle to arrive at a surrounding risk; and

a data storage configured to store takeover time which is time required for the driver who is performing an action other than driving to take over and drive the vehicle, the takeover time being stored for each action other than driving, wherein

the information presentation controller determines the information to present to the driver by comparing the arrival time estimated by the arrival estimating circuit and the takeover time stored in the data storage.

6. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the information on allowableness of an action other than driving includes information indicating an action that the driver is allowed to perform other than driving,

as the information indicating an action that the driver is allowed to perform other than driving, the information presentation controller presents, on the information display, information indicating an action other than driving the takeover time for which is equal to or shorter than the arrival time.

7. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the information on allowableness of an action other than driving includes information indicating an action that the driver is not allowed to perform other than driving,

as the information indicating an action that the driver is not allowed to perform other than driving, the information presentation controller presents, on the information display, information indicating an action other than driving the takeover time for which is longer than the arrival time.

8. An information presenting method applied to an autonomous vehicle capable of switching, based on a travelling condition of the vehicle and an outside circumstance of the vehicle, between autonomous driving control, in which the vehicle is driven autonomously, and manual driving control, in which the vehicle is driven by a driver, the information presenting method comprising:

calculating a system confidence level which indicates a status of a control system when executing the autonomous driving control;

presenting, to the driver, information on allowableness of an action other than driving; and

controlling switching of a content of the presented information according to a result of comparison between the system confidence level calculated and a predetermined threshold.