An emergency vehicle control device includes an emergency vehicle stop switch that detects or estimates an emergency situation; an accelerator operation detector that detects whether or not an accelerator is being operated; and a cruise controller that executes vehicle speed maintaining control or inter-vehicle distance maintaining control for a preceding vehicle. In the case where an emergency situation is detected or estimated by the emergency vehicle stop switch while a vehicle is running, execution of control by the cruise controller is prohibited, and when an accelerator non-operation state lasting for an accelerator non-operation time threshold value or longer since the prohibition of the control is detected by the accelerator operation detector, the vehicle is automatically stopped.

An emergency vehicle control device includes an emergency vehicle stop switch that detects or estimates an emergency situation; an accelerator operation detector that detects whether or not an accelerator is being operated; and a cruise controller that executes vehicle speed maintaining control or inter-vehicle distance maintaining control for a preceding vehicle. In the case where an emergency situation is detected or estimated by the emergency vehicle stop switch while a vehicle is running, execution of control by the cruise controller is prohibited, and when an accelerator non-operation state lasting for an accelerator non-operation time threshold value or longer since the prohibition of the control is detected by the accelerator operation detector, the vehicle is automatically stopped.

A speed control device includes: a vehicle information output unit that outputs at least two, as vehicle information, of measurement information on forward/backward acceleration of a vehicle measured by an acceleration sensor, forward/backward actual acceleration of the vehicle obtained from an output rotation of an automatic transmission, and a traveling driving force based on a driving force output by a driving source and an air resistance acting on the vehicle; and a setting unit that selects a shift mode by comparing the vehicle information with a predetermined selection threshold and sets a shift point for controlling the automatic transmission provided in the vehicle based on the shift mode.

Information related to a vehicle can be displayed by projecting an image based on the information on a road surface or the like. An image projection apparatus that projects an image includes: an acquisition unit that acquires information to be displayed; and an image projection unit that projects the image based on the information to be displayed acquired by the acquisition unit.

Example systems and methods are disclosed for implementing vehicle operation limits to prevent vehicle load failure during vehicle teleoperation. The method may include receiving sensor data from sensors on a vehicle that carries a load. The vehicle may be controlled by a remote control system. The load weight and dimensions may be determined based on the sensor data. In order to prevent a vehicle load failure, a forward velocity limit and an angular velocity limit may be calculated. Vehicle load failures may include the vehicle tipping over, the load tipping over, the load sliding off of the vehicle, or collisions. The vehicle carrying the load may be restricted from exceeding the forward velocity limit and/or the angular velocity limit during vehicle operation. The remote control system may display a user interface indicating to a remote operator the forward velocity limit and the angular velocity limit.

Example systems and methods are disclosed for implementing vehicle operation limits to prevent vehicle load failure during vehicle teleoperation. The method may include receiving sensor data from sensors on a vehicle that carries a load. The vehicle may be controlled by a remote control system. The load weight and dimensions may be determined based on the sensor data. In order to prevent a vehicle load failure, a forward velocity limit and an angular velocity limit may be calculated. Vehicle load failures may include the vehicle tipping over, the load tipping over, the load sliding off of the vehicle, or collisions. The vehicle carrying the load may be restricted from exceeding the forward velocity limit and/or the angular velocity limit during vehicle operation. The remote control system may display a user interface indicating to a remote operator the forward velocity limit and the angular velocity limit.

A vehicle control system is configured to switch a driving mode of a vehicle among an automatic driving mode, a transition mode, and a manual driving mode. The vehicle control system includes: a notification device and an electronic control unit. The notification device is configured to notify the driver of information. The electronic control unit is configured to recognize a vehicle state of the vehicle, and notify, by using the notification device, the driver of a reason for switching the driving mode to the transition mode, when the driving mode is switched from the automatic driving mode or the manual driving mode to the transition mode based on the vehicle state.

A cruise control device applied to a vehicle including a target detection unit and including a following control unit includes a determination unit configured to determine, during the period of execution of following control, whether a small vehicle switching state in which a following target is a small vehicle has occurred or not, an upper limit storage unit configured to store, as an upper limit value, a target acceleration set before determination as the small vehicle switching state by the determination unit under a condition where the determination unit determines that the small vehicle switching state has occurred, and a target acceleration setting unit configured to set the target acceleration to equal to or lower than the upper limit value stored in the upper limit storage unit during a period until the following control performed for the switched small vehicle as the following target ends.

A cruise control device applied to a vehicle including a target detection unit and including a following control unit includes a determination unit configured to determine, during the period of execution of following control, whether a small vehicle switching state in which a following target is a small vehicle has occurred or not, an upper limit storage unit configured to store, as an upper limit value, a target acceleration set before determination as the small vehicle switching state by the determination unit under a condition where the determination unit determines that the small vehicle switching state has occurred, and a target acceleration setting unit configured to set the target acceleration to equal to or lower than the upper limit value stored in the upper limit storage unit during a period until the following control performed for the switched small vehicle as the following target ends.

A method and apparatus for providing an indication to a driver of a geared vehicle that the vehicle is not in an optimal gear is disclosed. The method comprises determining a current gear of the vehicle and determining a current speed of a drive unit of the vehicle. An indication is then provided to the driver of the vehicle that the vehicle is not in an optimal gear when: (i) the determined current speed of the drive unit is greater than a predetermined threshold; and (ii) the determined current gear of the vehicle is less than a maximum gear of the vehicle. A method and apparatus is also disclosed for determining a score indicative of the amount of time during a journey on a road network that a geared vehicle is driven in an optimal gear.