Travel control apparatus and travel control method
First Claim
1. A travel control apparatus comprising:
- an abnormality information acquisition section that acquires information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of a vehicle is detected;
a status determination section thatmakes a tentative determination that the driver is in an abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected a first threshold period of time,makes a formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected a second threshold period of time longer than the first threshold period of time, andmakes a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state, in response to the abnormality of the driver being detected continuously after making the formal determination;
an evacuation control section that initiates an automatic evacuation control in response to the status determination section determining that the driver is in the driving difficulty state, the automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle; and
an assistance control section that initiates a driving assistance control during an interval from when the status determination section makes the tentative determination that the driver is in the abnormal state to when the status determination section makes the formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state, the driving assistance control including at least activating a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle, the lane departure prevention function controlling steering of the vehicle to keep the vehicle traveling in a lane by applying a steering force.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A travel control apparatus includes: an abnormality information acquisition section that acquires information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of a vehicle is detected; a status determination section that makes a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state, when the abnormality of the driver is detected continuously; and an evacuation control section that initiates an automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle when the status determination section makes a determination that the driver is in the driving difficulty state. The travel control apparatus further includes an assistance control section that initiates a driving assistance control during an interval from when the abnormality is detected to when the driving difficulty state is determined; the driving assistance control includes at least activating a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle.
6 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A travel control apparatus comprising:
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an abnormality information acquisition section that acquires information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of a vehicle is detected; a status determination section that makes a tentative determination that the driver is in an abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected a first threshold period of time, makes a formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected a second threshold period of time longer than the first threshold period of time, and makes a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state, in response to the abnormality of the driver being detected continuously after making the formal determination; an evacuation control section that initiates an automatic evacuation control in response to the status determination section determining that the driver is in the driving difficulty state, the automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle; and an assistance control section that initiates a driving assistance control during an interval from when the status determination section makes the tentative determination that the driver is in the abnormal state to when the status determination section makes the formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state, the driving assistance control including at least activating a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle, the lane departure prevention function controlling steering of the vehicle to keep the vehicle traveling in a lane by applying a steering force. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A travel control method to initiate an automatic evacuation control stopping automatically a vehicle for a driver of the vehicle is in a driving difficulty state, the method being executed by at least one processor and comprising:
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an abnormality information acquiring that acquires information indicating that an abnormality of the driver is detected; a status determining that makes a tentative determination that the driver is in an abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected a first threshold period of time, makes a formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected a second threshold period of time longer than the first threshold period of time, and makes a determination that the driver is in the driving difficulty state, in response to the abnormality of the driver being detected continuously after making the formal determination; an evacuation controlling that initiates the automatic evacuation control in response to the status determining determining that the driver is in the driving difficulty state; and an assistance controlling that initiates a driving assistance control during an interval from when the tentative determination that the driver is in the abnormal state is made to when the formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state is made, the driving assistance control including at least activating a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle, the lane departure prevention function controlling steering of the vehicle to keep the vehicle traveling in a lane by applying a steering force.
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16. A travel control apparatus comprising:
at least one processor configured to; acquire information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of a vehicle is detected; make a tentative determination that the driver is in an abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected for a first threshold period of time; make a formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state in response to the abnormality of the driver being continuously detected for a second threshold period of time longer than the first threshold period of time; make a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state, in response to the abnormality of the driver being detected continuously after making the formal determination; initiate an automatic evacuation control in response to determining that the driver is in the driving difficulty state, the automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle; and initiate a driving assistance control during an interval from when it is determined in the tentative determination that the driver is in the abnormal state to when it is determined in the formal determination that the driver is in the abnormal state, the driving assistance control including at least activating a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle, the lane departure prevention function controlling steering of the vehicle to keep the vehicle traveling in a lane by applying a steering force.
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17. A travel control apparatus comprising:
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at least one processor configured to; acquire information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of the vehicle is detected, from a driver status monitor configured to capture an image of the driver to automatically detect the abnormality of the driver; make a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state, in response to the abnormality of the driver being detected continuously; and initiate an automatic evacuation control in response to determining that the driver is in the driving difficulty state, the automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to; activate a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle and a cruise control function of the vehicle at substantially the same time during an interval from when the abnormality of the driver is detected to when the driving difficulty state of the driver is determined; and together with activating the lane departure prevention function and the cruise control function, output notification request information to a human machine interface (HMI) controller controlling a notification device which issues a notification to an occupant on a front passenger seat of the vehicle, the notification request information causing the notification indicative of activation of the lane departure prevention function and the cruise control function to be issued.
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18. A system comprising:
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at least one processor; and a human machine interface (HMI) controller configured to control a notification device which issues a notification to an occupant on a front passenger seat of the vehicle, wherein the at least one processor is configured to; acquire information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of the vehicle s detected, from a driver status monitor configured to capture an image of the driver to automatically detect the abnormality of the driver; make a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state in response to the abnormality of the driver being detected continuously; and initiate an automatic evacuation control in response to determining that the driver is in the driving difficulty state, the automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to; activate a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle and a cruise control function of the vehicle at substantially the same time during an interval from when the abnormality of the driver is detected to when the driving difficulty state of the driver is determined; and together with activating the lane departure prevention function and the cruise control function, output notification request information that causes the notification indicative of activation of the lane departure prevention function and the cruise control function to be issued, wherein based on the notification request information, the HMI controller controls the notification device to issue the notification indicative of the activation of the lane departure prevention function and the cruise control function to the occupant on the front passenger seat.
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Specification