An automatic driving method and device able to diagnose decisions is disclosed herein, wherein a vehicle body signal sensor detects vehicle body information, and an environment sensor detects traffic environment information. The information is transmitted to a central processor to generate a future driving track. The central processor examines whether the differences between the future driving track and the traffic environment information and the indexes of the future driving track meet tolerances. If no, the central processor transmits notification information to an automatic driving controller. If yes, the central processor transmits the future driving track to the automatic driving controller to make the automatic driving controller undertake automatic driving according to the future driving track. The present invention can automatically judge whether the future driving track generated by the central processor is within tolerances and determine whether the automatic driving track is safe.

Systems and methods for determining routes to destinations for a vehicle may: generate output signals; obtain road information for a set of roads; determine presence information that indicates whether one or more passengers are present in the vehicle; determine the location information of the vehicle; obtain a target destination that represents a location the vehicle is intended to reach; determine a first route including a first subset of the set of roads; determine a second route including a second subset of the set of roads; and control the vehicle autonomously to traverse the vehicle along either the first route or the second route in accordance with whether one or more passengers are present in the vehicle.

A system for controlling a vehicle having an autonomous mode and a semi-autonomous mode includes one or more processors and a memory in communication with the one or more processors. The memory stores a command generating module and a transmission module. The command generating module causes the one or more processors to generate, in response to an input, at least one control signal for controlling the vehicle by an envelope control system. The envelope control system utilizes a common control scheme for both the semi-autonomous mode and the autonomous mode, wherein the input is a driver input when the vehicle is in the semi-autonomous mode and the input is a pseudo-driver input when the vehicle is in the autonomous mode. The transmission module causes the one or more processors to transmit the at least one control signal to a vehicle motion controller, wherein the vehicle motion controller controls the movement of the vehicle.

The present invention relates to a vehicle capable of driving autonomously and a method of recommending a more appropriate driving mode depending on a driver's status. A vehicle control device for controlling a vehicle comprises: a memory that stores a driving stress map containing stress level information which is calculated for each road section based on a driver's stress information collected while the vehicle is driving on each road section; and a processor that retrieves a stress level for a road section where the vehicle is currently located from the driving stress map and outputs notification information recommending a change to a first driving mode or second driving mode according to the retrieved stress level. The vehicle may perform autonomous driving by the vehicle control apparatus.

A vehicle control apparatus includes a notification unit configured to notify a driver of a switching request from automated driving to manual driving, and a setting unit configured to set a notification timing of the notification unit. In a case in which a course change of a vehicle is needed up to a predetermined point during the automated driving, the setting unit sets a timing that comes earliest from a plurality of candidates of the notification timing. The plurality of candidates includes a first candidate based on a condition necessary for completing the course change by the manual driving up to the predetermined point, and a second candidate based on a condition necessary for setting the vehicle in a predetermined standby state by the automated driving up to the predetermined point.

An automated driving system includes a determiner, a driving switch controller, and a notification controller. The determiner determines each of a plurality of determination items that is a condition for switching from an automated driving to a manual driving. The driving switch controller switches from the automated driving to the manual driving when all of the plurality of determination items are determined as positive. The notification controller notifies a driver of notification information for urging a reaction of the driver when at least one of the plurality of determination items is determined as negative. The determiner determines the at least one or all of the plurality of determination items before a vehicle passes through a switch determination point. The determiner determines the at least one or all of the plurality of determination items when or after the vehicle passes through the switch determination point.

An automatic driving control plan creator creates a plan of an automatic driving section where a subject vehicle is automatically driven, and a plan of a driving switching preparation section for switching the subject vehicle from automatic driving to manual driving. A driving load calculator predicts, for each point of the driving switching preparation section, a driving load applied to a driver when the driver manually drives the subject vehicle. A driving switching permission determiner extracts, from the driving switching preparation section, a switching-inhibited section that is a section where switching from automatic driving to manual driving is not permitted, on the basis of the predicted driving load at each point. A driving switching preparation section compensator changes a start point of the driving switching preparation section so as to lengthen the driving switching preparation section in accordance with the length of the switching-inhibited section.

A vehicle control apparatus including an operation detector detecting driving instruction, a direction detector detecting actual traveling direction of the vehicle, and a microprocessor. The microprocessor is configured to perform: determining whether a deviation of the actual traveling direction from target traveling direction according to the driving instruction is greater than or equal to predetermined deviation; switching to the self-drive mode when the deviation is greater than or equal to the predetermined deviation during traveling in the manual drive mode; and controlling the actuator in accordance with the driving instruction, the controlling including controlling the actuator so as to match the actual traveling direction with the target traveling direction after switching to the self-drive mode, and the switching including switching to the manual drive mode when the actual traveling direction is matched with the target traveling direction after switching to the self-drive mode.

A control system is installed on a vehicle having an electric motor as a drive power source. The control system includes an electronic control unit configured to switch the vehicle between an automatic driving mode using automatic drive control, and a manual driving mode in which the vehicle is operated by a driver. The electronic control unit is configured to limit the load factor of the electric motor, in the case where the temperature of the electric motor is higher than a first threshold temperature when the vehicle travels in the automatic driving mode, and the case where the temperature of the electric motor is higher than a second threshold temperature when the vehicle travels in the manual driving mode. The second threshold temperature is set to a value higher than the first threshold temperature.

A control device is provided for a human-powered vehicle. The control device is basically provided with a controller. The controller is configured to be connected to at least one component of the human-powered vehicle such that the controller is free from executing normal activation of the at least one component in accordance to a first input in a first mode. The controller is configured to operate at least one of an actuator and an indicator in accordance to the first input in a second mode. The first mode is switched into the second mode in accordance to a second input different from the first input.