A control subsystem, method, computer program product and autonomous vehicle are provided to respond to an unknown object on a carriageway along which an autonomous vehicle is to travel. In this regard, sensor data is received from at least one vehicle sensor. The sensor data includes location coordinates of the object on the carriageway. The sensor data is evaluated to determine whether the object is known or unknown. If unknown, the size of the object is determined and a motion plan is defined for the autonomous vehicle depending upon the size of the object and the location coordinates of the object relative to the autonomous vehicle. The motion plan that is defined is dependent upon the size of the object with different motion plans being defined for differently sized objects. Driving instructions for the autonomous vehicle are then updated based upon the motion plan that is defined.

Among other things, a command is received expressing an objective for operation of a vehicle within a denominated travel segment of a planned travel route. The objective spans a time series of (for example, is expressed at a higher or more abstract level than) control inputs that are to be delivered to one or more of the brake, accelerator, steering, or other operational actuator of the vehicle. The command is expressed to cause operation of the vehicle along a selected man-made travel structure of the denominated travel segment. A feasible manner of operation of the vehicle is determined to effect the command. A succession of control inputs is generated to one or more of the brake, accelerator, steering or other operational actuator of the vehicle in accordance with the determined feasible manner of operation.

Systems and methods are provided for navigating based on sensed brake light patterns. In one implementation, a navigation system for a host vehicle may include at least one processing device. The at least one processing device may be programmed to receive, from a camera, a plurality of images representative of an environment ahead of the host vehicle; analyze the plurality of images to identify at least one target vehicle in the environment ahead of the host vehicle; identify, based on analysis of the plurality of images, at least one brake light associated with the target vehicle and at least one characteristic associated with changes in an illumination state of the at least one brake light; and cause a navigational change for the host vehicle based on the identified at least one characteristic associated with the changes in the illumination state of the at least one brake light.

An autonomous parking control device executes vehicle traveling control that calculates a command value of a propulsive force based on an operating state, and moves the vehicle to a target position autonomously by controlling a propulsive force generating device in accordance with the command value. The control device executes an additional command value varying process of adding a predetermined additional command value to the command value when the vehicle stops due to the propulsive force being insufficient during the vehicle traveling control, and decreasing or keeping the additional command value by a predetermined degree of suppression, when the vehicle which is stopped is started. Here, when executing the additional command value varying process in the first position far from the target position, the degree of suppression is set to be smaller as compared with a case of executing the process in a second position close to the target position.

An autonomous driving control device is capable of starting an autonomous driving control without an operation of a driver and reducing a possibility that the driver can not start manual driving. An autonomous driving control is switched to manual driving when a determination section determines that the amount of operation by the driver is equal to or greater than a first threshold, before a predetermined time elapses since the autonomous driving control is automatically started. An autonomous driving control is switched to a manual driving when the determination section determines that the amount of operation by the driver is equal to or greater than a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold, after the predetermined time elapses.

Systems and methods are provided for controlling vehicle operation. A processor may access route information for navigation of a route by the vehicle including data relating to speed along the route and calculate a speed of the vehicle along the route based on the route information. The processor may cause the vehicle to be operated at the calculated speed along the route; obtain dynamic information for the route based on data collected from one or more other vehicles on the route and indicating current conditions on the route which affect the speed of the vehicle along the route; and cause the vehicle to be operated at an updated speed along the route, based on the dynamic information.

An assistance apparatus includes a reception unit configured to receive information indicating a travelling hazardous point which is transmitted from an outside of a vehicle, a calculation unit configured to calculate a distance and an orientation from the vehicle to the point based on the point and a current position of the vehicle, a detection unit configured to detect the point inside a detection range set within a range in which a distance from the vehicle is a first distance or more and a second distance or less, and an assistance control unit configured to perform travelling assistance when the point is detected inside the detection range, in which the first distance is a travel distance required for a speed of the vehicle to be slowed down to a predetermined speed or less by the time the vehicle reaches the point from the current position of the vehicle.

A computing device including interface for receiving from a sensor device sensor data representative of an environment surrounding a host vehicle, and a processor configured to obtain a planned driving action for accomplishing a navigational goal of a host vehicle operating in a first lane of a roadway, identify, from the sensor data, a moving target vehicle located in a second lane of the roadway, identify, based on the target vehicle speed and direction, the target vehicle predicted trajectory indicating a cut-in movement of the target vehicle from the second lane to the first lane, identify an intersection of a planned trajectory for the host vehicle with the predicted trajectory for the target vehicle, and determine a safety action of the host vehicle to respond to the movement of the target vehicle; and cause the safety action to be performed in the host vehicle.

The present invention provides a vehicle control device in which it is possible to modify the travel trajectory of a vehicle in response to the presence of an obstruction in the vehicle perimeter. In the present invention, the vehicle control device 1 recognizes the surroundings of the vehicle, detects a first branching point in a first route that is preset on a road, and in cases in which a prescribed condition is met by the presence of an obstruction detected from the recognized surroundings when the vehicle is to move along a travel trajectory that is based on at least one second route from among a plurality of second routes that branch from the first branching point, generates a virtual route which branches from the first route at a second branching point differing from the first branching point toward the selected second route, and modifies the travel trajectory on the basis of the generated virtual route.

Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying landmarks. A method for identifying a landmark may include initiating identification of a landmark based on one or more images from a camera, for use in autonomous vehicle navigation, the landmark including a traffic sign; initiating updating a road model with a location of the landmark; and initiating distribution of the road model with the location of the traffic sign to a plurality of autonomous vehicles.