Described herein is a server computing system that controls an autonomous vehicle to perform an operation to at least one of measure or isolate an effect of a variable on an actual power consumption by the autonomous vehicle. Data indicative of the actual power consumption, which is generated based on the operation, and data indicative of a projected power consumption, which is accumulated based on prior execution of the operation by a same or different autonomous vehicle, is received by the server computing system to determine whether an energy efficiency of the autonomous vehicle is degraded. The operation may be performed to identify a degraded vehicle system or component of the autonomous vehicle or to identify an autonomous vehicle in a fleet of autonomous vehicles for which further analysis is desirable. An output is generated by the server computing system that is indicative of the energy efficiency prognostics.

An autonomous vehicle automatically implements a lane change in dense traffic condition. A minimum distance gap between the vehicle and a vehicle in front of the present vehicle is calculated for an autonomous vehicle, along with a best trajectory for changing lanes into a left adjacent lane or changing lanes into a right adjacent lane. The left or right lane change is triggered by the driver or the global planner that navigates the vehicle. During the next cycle, pre-calculated information is utilized by a planning module to determine the final speed of the trajectory to complete the final planning trajectory for the lane change.

A vehicle control system is provided to maintain an SOC level of the battery during autonomous operation of the vehicle. The control system is applied to a vehicle that can be operated autonomously by controlling an engine, a motor, a steering system, a brake system etc. autonomously by a controller, and the vehicle is allowed to coast by manipulating a clutch. During autonomous operation of the vehicle, a first coasting mode in which the engine is stopped and the clutch is disengaged is selected if the SOC level is higher than a threshold level, and a second coasting mode in which the engine is activated and the clutch is disengaged is selected if the SOC level is lower than the threshold level.

An autonomous vehicle controller includes a memory and a processor programmed to execute instructions stored in the memory. The instructions include determining a plurality of energy cost functions. Each energy cost function is associated with a combination of candidate variables. The instructions further include selecting one of the plurality of energy cost functions as a minimum energy cost function, determining a combination of candidate variables associated with the minimum energy cost function, and controlling acceleration of a host vehicle according to the combination of candidate variables associated with the minimum energy cost function.

According to an embodiment, there is provided a vehicle control system including a recognizer configured to recognize a surrounding environment of a vehicle, a driving controller configured to perform driving control based on one or both of speed control and steering control of the vehicle on the basis of a recognition result of the recognizer, an acquirer configured to acquire the remaining amount of energy of a terminal device of an occupant of the vehicle or the remaining amount of energy of the vehicle, and a notification controller configured to provide a notification to the occupant when traveling based on the driving control is predicted to be started by the driving controller and when the remaining amount of energy acquired by the acquirer is less than or equal to a threshold value.

A vehicle control device includes: a recognizer configured to recognize a surrounding environment of a vehicle; a driving controller configured to perform driving control including at least one of speed control and steering control of the vehicle on the basis of a result of recognition from the recognizer; and an information acquirer configured to acquire surrounding environment information of the surrounding environment of the vehicle in a predetermined space on the basis of the result of recognition from the recognizer in a period after the vehicle enters the predetermined space and before the vehicle exits the predetermined space under the driving control of the driving controller, and to upload the acquired surrounding environment information to an external device.

A vehicle control system of an embodiment includes a recognizer that recognizes a peripheral environment of a vehicle, a driving controller that performs driving control based on speed control and steering control of the vehicle on the basis of a recognition result of the recognizer, an acquirer that acquires a remaining energy amount of a terminal device, and a notifier that performs a notification for prompting an increase of the remaining energy amount when the remaining energy amount acquired by the acquirer while an occupant is aboard the vehicle is less than a first threshold in a case where an instruction to cause a vehicle to enter a parking area in which the vehicle is able to be parked by traveling based on the driving control or an instruction to cause the vehicle to exit the parking area is performed by the terminal device.

A method for implementing vehicle platooning includes: linking, by a handoff control module, a plurality of vehicles to form a platoon; selectively assigning, by the handoff control module, a first vehicle of the plurality of vehicles as a lead vehicle and remaining ones of the plurality of vehicles as lag vehicles, wherein at least one driving function of the lag vehicles is controlled in accordance with the lead vehicle; determining, by the handoff control module, a first lead vehicle interval for the first vehicle as the lead vehicle; and in response to the first lead vehicle interval expiring, selectively assigning, by the handoff control module, the first vehicle as a lag vehicle and a second vehicle of the plurality of vehicles as the lead vehicle for a second lead vehicle interval.

A vehicle that operates in an autonomous driving mode and includes: an occupant sensing unit that is configured to sense an occupant inside the vehicle; and at least one processor configured to: determine, through the occupant sensing unit, whether the vehicle is occupied; and in a state in which the vehicle operates in the autonomous driving mode, control one or more in-vehicle devices based on a determination of whether the vehicle is occupied.

Methods and systems for enhancing the functionality of a semi-autonomous vehicle are described herein. The semi-autonomous vehicle may receive a communication from a fully autonomous vehicle within a threshold distance of the semi-autonomous vehicle. If the vehicles are travelling on the same route or the same portion of a route, the semi-autonomous vehicle may navigate to a location behind the fully autonomous vehicle. Then the semi-autonomous vehicle may operate autonomously by replicating one or more functions performed by the fully autonomous vehicle. The functions and/or maneuvers performed by the fully autonomous vehicle may be detected via sensors in the semi-autonomous vehicle and/or may be identified by communicating with the fully autonomous vehicle to receive indications of upcoming maneuvers. In this manner, the semi-autonomous vehicle may act as a fully autonomous vehicle.