When a subject vehicle performs first autonomous lane change control from a subject vehicle lane to an adjacent lane and then consecutively perform autonomous lane change control to a next adjacent lane in the same direction of lane change, lateral speed to perform second and subsequent autonomous lane change control is set slower than lateral speed to perform the first autonomous lane change control. Thus, the second and subsequent autonomous lane change control to the adjacent lane in the same direction of lane change is performed more slowly than the previously performed autonomous lane change control. Time used for confirming surrounding situations is lengthened, and the surrounding situations can be properly confirmed prior to the lane change.

A method and device for operating a vehicle comprising a step of recording environment data values, which represent an environment of the vehicle, the environment comprising at least one environmental feature; a step of determining a comparative value of a comparison between the at least one environmental feature and a map, the map comprising at least one map feature, the at least one environmental feature corresponding the at least one map feature; a step of determining an up-to-dateness of the map, based on a comparison of the comparative value with a threshold value; and a step of operating the vehicle, as a function of the up-to-dateness of the map.

A system and method are described for controlling a vehicle interior environmental condition. A biometric sensor senses a biometric condition of a vehicle seat occupant and generates a sensed biometric condition value. A controller receives the sensed biometric condition value, a sensed interior environmental condition value, and a sensed exterior environmental condition value. Each of multiple exterior environmental condition values has an associated biometric condition value defined as optimal for the vehicle occupant. The controller determines the optimal biometric condition value associated with the sensed exterior environmental condition value, compares the optimal biometric condition value to the sensed biometric condition value, and in response to a difference between the optimal biometric condition value and the sensed biometric condition value, generates a control signal to control an actuator to control the controllable interior environmental condition to reduce the difference between sensed biometric condition value and the optimal biometric condition value.

A method for controlling a start of a mild hybrid vehicle that includes an engine, a starter-generator starting the engine or generating electricity by an output of the engine, a starter starting the engine, and a battery supplying electric power to the starter-generator may include: determining, by a controller configured for controlling an operation of the vehicle, whether a start of the vehicle is requested; checking, by the controller, current limit data of the battery when the start of the vehicle is requested; checking, by the controller, start torque current data of the starter-generator according to state data of the vehicle; comparing, by the controller, the current limit data with the start torque current data; and starting, by the controller, the engine using the starter-generator or the starter according to a result of the comparing, by the controller, the current limit data with the start torque current data.

A method for processing friction data for vehicle tires on road segments, implemented by a processing system including at least one computer and an interface for remote communication with a plurality of vehicles, the method including: acquiring, from the plurality of vehicles, friction data for tires of the vehicles on a plurality of road segments, each friction datum including at least: a maximum coefficient of friction available to the vehicle on the road segment, and information relating to the road segment; establishing, for each road segment, a distribution of the friction data obtained from the plurality of vehicles for the road segment; and determining a plurality of road types, each road type comprising a set of road segments, from a measurement of similarity between the distributions of friction data obtained for each road segment.

A method for automatically reactivating a lane departure warning and/or lane keeping driver assistance system of a vehicle, comprising deactivating the system at a deactivation time point; identifying a first road condition which is associated with the deactivation time point when the system is being deactivated, wherein the first road condition is indicative of a driving situation when the driver wants the system to be deactivated; setting a reactivation threshold value, wherein the reactivation threshold value is set based on the identified first road condition and defines a limit for when the first road condition no longer applies; and automatically reactivating the system when it is determined that the reactivation threshold value is reached. The invention also relates to a vehicle control unit and to a vehicle.

A method of operation of a vehicle system including capturing a current image from a current location towards a travel direction along a travel path; generating an image category for the current image based on a weather condition, the current location, or a combination thereof; determining a clear path towards the travel direction of the travel path based on the image category, the current image, and a previous image; and communicating the clear path for assisting in operation of a vehicle.

Aspects and implementations of the present disclosure address challenges of the existing technology by enabling lidar-assisted identification and characterization of visibility-reducing media (VRM) such as fog, rain, snow, dust in autonomous vehicle applications, using lidar sensing. VRM can be identified and characterized using a variety of techniques, including analyzing a spatial distribution of low-intensity lidar returns, detecting pulse elongation of VRM-returns associated with reflection from VRM, determining intensity of VRM-returns, determining reduction of intensity of returns from various reference objects, and other techniques.

A vehicle control device configured to control switching of drive mode of a vehicle including an internal combustion engine and a motor includes a processor configured to switch, in a case where a road surface of a perimeter of a geofencing zone is a road surface on which there is a high probability that the vehicle slips, in a movement route from an outside of the geofencing zone to an inside of the geofencing zone, the drive mode of the vehicle to drive by the motor in a state in which there is a low probability that the vehicle slips, outside the geofencing zone.

An apparatus and a method for controlling an autonomous vehicle depending on weather are provided. The apparatus obtains information including at least one of an image around the autonomous vehicle, sensing information of a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) of the autonomous vehicle, sensing information of a rain sensor of the autonomous vehicle, an operation state of a windshield wiper of the autonomous vehicle, climate information through vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, an acceleration of the autonomous vehicle, or wheel sensor information of the autonomous vehicle and determines whether the climate state is an inclement weather state, based on the information including the at least one of the image around the autonomous vehicle, the sensing information of the LIDAR, the sensing information of the rain sensor, the operation state of the windshield wiper, the climate information through the V2X communication, the acceleration, or the wheel sensor information.