Adaptive vehicle control systems and methods of altering a condition of a vehicle using the same

• US 10,272,911 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2018
• Issued: 04/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: McNew, John-Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Antonucci, Anne M
• Application Number:
  US16/149,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20190031192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 210 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/50 Magnetic or electromagnetic sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/54 Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/60 Doppler effect
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/30 Driving style
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/53 Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4029 Pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/406 Traffic density
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/802 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/804 Relative longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/65 Data transmitted between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/106 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2754/30 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/14 : Adaptive cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 : Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/182 : Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 : Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/082 : Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/001 : Planning or execution of driving tasks
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 : involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 : Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

An adaptive vehicle control system that includes processors, memory modules communicatively coupled to the processors, and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that cause the adaptive vehicle control system to determine an autonomous operation profile of a target vehicle positioned in a vehicle operating environment, wherein the vehicle operating environment includes a roadway having one or more lanes, determine an autonomous operation profile of one of more neighboring vehicles positioned within the vehicle operating environment, compare the autonomous operation profile of at least one of the one or more neighboring vehicles with the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle, and alter a condition of the target vehicle such that the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle matches an autonomous operation profile of an individual neighboring vehicle of the one or more neighboring vehicles positioned in the same lane as the target vehicle.

Claims

1. A method of altering a condition of a target vehicle comprising an autonomous operation profile, the method comprising:

determining an autonomous operation profile of a first neighboring vehicle and an autonomous operation profile of a second neighboring vehicle;

wherein;

the target vehicle, the first neighboring vehicle, and the second neighboring vehicle are each positioned in a vehicle operating environment comprising a roadway having one or more lanes;

the target vehicle is positioned in a first lane of the one or more lanes;

the first neighboring vehicle is positioned in the first lane of the one or more lanes; and

the second neighboring vehicle is positioned in a second lane of the one or more lanes;

comparing the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle with the autonomous operation profiles of the first neighboring vehicle and the second neighboring vehicle; and

providing a control signal to a vehicle control system of the target vehicle, using an automated drive controller, such that the target vehicle moves from the first lane to the second lane when the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle matches the autonomous operation profile of the second neighboring vehicle and is different than the autonomous operation profile of the first neighboring vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second neighboring vehicle is positioned ahead of the target vehicle in a vehicle forward direction.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising providing a separation distance control signal to the vehicle control system of the target vehicle, using the automated drive controller, such that the target vehicle maintains a separation distance between the target vehicle and the second neighboring vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises one or more vehicle control settings for the automated drive controller of the target vehicle; and

the one or more vehicle control settings of the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle control an acceleration control signal, a deceleration control signal, or both, that, when output by the automated drive controller of the target vehicle and received by the vehicle control system of the target vehicle, control an acceleration rate of the target vehicle, a deceleration rate of the target vehicle, or both.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises a first autonomous operation profile corresponding with a first vehicle operating environment and a second autonomous operation profile corresponding with a second vehicle operating environment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises a first autonomous operation profile corresponding with a first group of days comprising one or more days of the week and a second autonomous operation profile corresponding with a second group of days comprising one or more days of the week.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the target vehicle maintains a separation distance from both of the first neighboring vehicle and the second neighboring vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the control signal controls one or more of an acceleration and a deceleration of the target vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the control signal controls one or more of the acceleration and the deceleration of the target vehicle to match one or more of a second neighboring vehicle acceleration or a second neighboring vehicle deceleration.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

connecting to one or more of the first neighboring vehicle and the second neighboring vehicle using direct communications hardware.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the target vehicle determines the autonomous operation profile of the first neighboring vehicle and the autonomous operation profile of the second neighboring vehicle based on a signal received using the direct communications hardware.

12. An adaptive vehicle control system for a target vehicle comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memory modules communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and

machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that cause the adaptive vehicle control system to perform at least the following when executed by the one or more processors;

determine an autonomous operation profile of a first neighboring vehicle and an autonomous operation profile of a second neighboring vehicle, wherein the target vehicle, the first neighboring vehicle, and the second neighboring vehicle are each positioned in a vehicle operating environment comprising a roadway having one or more lanes;

compare the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle operating in a first lane of the one or more lanes with the autonomous operation profiles of the first neighboring vehicle positioned in the first lane and the second neighboring vehicle positioned in a second lane of the one or more lanes; and

provide a control signal to a vehicle control system of the target vehicle, using an automated drive controller, such that the target vehicle moves from the first lane to the second lane when the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle matches the autonomous operation profile of the second neighboring vehicle and is different than the autonomous operation profile of the first neighboring vehicle.

13. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 12, wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules further cause the automated drive controller to:

monitor the operation of the target vehicle to determine a preferred driving style of a user of the target vehicle; and

move the target vehicle from the first lane to the second lane when the preferred driving style of the target vehicle matches the autonomous operation profile of the second neighboring vehicle and is different than the autonomous operation profile of the first neighboring vehicle.

14. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 12, wherein:

the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises one or more vehicle control settings for the automated drive controller of the target vehicle; and

the one or more vehicle control settings of the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle control an acceleration control signal, a deceleration control signal, or both, that, when output by the automated drive controller of the target vehicle and received by a vehicle control system of the target vehicle, control an acceleration rate of the target vehicle, a deceleration rate of the target vehicle, or both.

15. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 14, wherein a magnitude of the acceleration rate of the target vehicle is different than a magnitude of the deceleration rate of the target vehicle.

16. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 12, wherein the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises a first autonomous operation profile corresponding with a weekend date and a second autonomous operation profile with a weekday date.

17. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 12, wherein the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises a first autonomous operation profile corresponding with a first vehicle operating environment and a second autonomous operation profile corresponding with a second vehicle operating environment.

18. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 12, wherein the target vehicle, the first neighboring vehicle, and the second neighboring vehicle each comprise direct communications hardware.

19. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 18, wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules further cause the adaptive vehicle control system to perform at least the following when executed by the one or more processors:

determine the autonomous operation profile of the first neighboring vehicle based on a signal output by the direct communications hardware of the first neighboring vehicle and received by the direct communications hardware of the target vehicle.

20. The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 18, wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules further cause the adaptive vehicle control system to perform at least the following when executed by the one or more processors:

determine the autonomous operation profile of the second neighboring vehicle based on a signal output by the direct communications hardware of the second neighboring vehicle and received by the direct communications hardware of the target vehicle.