An ADK is attachable to and removable from a VP and issues an instruction for autonomous driving to the VP. The VP includes a steering system for steering of the VP. (An ADS of) the ADK includes a compute assembly and communication module configured to communicate with the VP. The compute assembly obtains from the VP, a prescribed reference on which control of a wheel steer angle is premised, calculates the steer angle in accordance with a driving plan for autonomous driving based on the obtained prescribed reference, and transmits a wheel steer angle command indicating the calculated steer angle to the VP. When the attachable and removable ADK that issues the instruction for autonomous driving controls the VP, without storage of the prescribed reference on which control of the wheel steer angle is premised in advance in the ADK, control suited to a base vehicle can be carried out.

A driver assistance system plans movement for a motor vehicle, wherein a safe state of the motor vehicle is a state of the motor vehicle in a first time step from which the motor vehicle can be transferred, as a function of a movement capability of the motor vehicle in at least one second time step which follows the first time step, into a further safe state without colliding with a road user. The driver assistance system is configured to determine for at least one future time step starting from a current state of the motor vehicle, at least one possible future state of the motor vehicle and of the road user, and to select safe future states of the motor vehicle from the possible future states of the motor vehicle and of the road user, and to plan a movement for the motor vehicle as a function of the safe future states.

Systems and methods are provided for generating data indicative of a friction associated with a driving surface, and for using the friction data in association with one or more vehicles. In one example, a computing system can detect a stop associated with a vehicle and initiate a steering action of the vehicle during the stop. The steering action is associated with movement of at least one tire of the vehicle relative to a driving surface. The computing system can obtain operational data associated with the steering action during the stop of the vehicle. The computing system can determine a friction associated with the driving surface based at least in part on the operational data associated with the steering action. The computing system can generate data indicative of the friction associated with the driving surface.

The vehicle control device of the present invention acquires characteristics of a road condition in front of a traveling vehicle based on external information; acquires vehicle behavior control variables for controlling the behavior of the vehicle based on estimated state variables of the vehicle that are obtained based on the characteristics, and control variables concerning speed of the vehicle based on the external information; acquires trajectory tracking control variables for causing the vehicle to track the target trajectory based on the target trajectory on which the vehicle travels that are obtained based on the characteristics and the estimated state variables; and outputs the control commands for controlling the suspension device, steering device, and braking and driving device based on the vehicle behavior control variables and the trajectory tracking control variables. This improves travel stability of the vehicle on a road surface on which an irregularity such as ruts exists.

A method for estimating a longitudinal force difference ΔFx acting on steered axle wheels of a vehicle, the method comprising obtaining data from the vehicle related to an applied steering torque M.sub.steer associated with the steered axle wheels, obtaining a scrub radius value r.sub.s associated with the steered axle wheels, and estimating the longitudinal force difference ΔFx, based on the obtained data and on the scrub radius r.sub.s, as proportional to the applied steering torque M.sub.steer and as inversely proportional to the scrub radius r.sub.s.

A travel control device includes: a risk level calculation unit configured to acquire a speed in a traveling direction of a vehicle, a speed of the vehicle in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the traveling direction, and an azimuth angular velocity of the vehicle and calculate a rollover risk level based on a lateral load transfer ratio (LTR) of the vehicle; a deceleration calculation unit configured to calculate deceleration indicating an extent to which to lower the speed in the traveling direction when an absolute value of the rollover risk level exceeds a threshold value; and a control unit configured to control a driving system of the vehicle using a value obtained by lowering a target speed of the vehicle on the basis of the deceleration as a new target speed.

A computer-implemented method comprises: initiating, by an assisted-driving system that is controlling motion of a vehicle, a lane change of the vehicle from an ego lane to a target lane, the lane change to be performed based only on local information of the vehicle; defining, by the assisted-driving system, a parametric representation of the target lane, the parametric representation based on first waypoints of the target lane; receiving, by the assisted-driving system and during the lane change, a first output of a perception component of the vehicle, the first output being the local information and reflecting second waypoints of the target lane; performing, by the assisted-driving system, a comparison based on the first output and the parametric representation; and providing, by the assisted-driving system, references of a first global path to controllers of the vehicle for actuating the lane change, the references selected based on the comparison.

A travel assistance method for performing a lane change of a host vehicle includes: detecting an oncoming vehicle traveling in an opposite lane from which the host vehicle travels when the host vehicle starts the lane change; determining a crossing point between a virtual advancing route and a linear advancing route in which the oncoming vehicle advances linearly, the virtual advancing route being a virtual extension of an advancing route of the host vehicle during a period from start to end of the lane change; executing a lane change using the route and the vehicle speed in a case where a time difference between a first predicted time and a second predicted time is outside a predetermined range; and when within the predetermined range, executing a lane change by changing at least one of the route and the vehicle speed such that the time difference is outside the predetermined range.

The present invention discloses an intelligent vehicle platoon lane change performance evaluation method. First, an intelligent vehicle platoon lane change performance test scenario is established; secondly, a three-degree of freedom nonlinear dynamics model is established according to motion characteristics of intelligent vehicles in a platoon lane change process; further, an improved adaptive unscented Kalman filter algorithm is utilized to perform filter estimation on state variables of positions and velocities of platoon vehicles; and finally, based on accurately recursive vehicle motion state parameters, evaluation indexes for platoon lane change performance are proposed and quantified, and an evaluation system for platoon lane change performance is constructed. According to the method proposed in the present invention, the problem of lacking platoon lane change performance quantitative evaluation at present is solved, vehicle motion state parameters can be measured in a high-precision and comprehensive manner, multi-dimensional platoon lane change performance evaluation indexes are quantified and output, and comprehensive, accurate, and reliable scientific quantitative evaluation for platoon lane change performance is achieved.

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a travel path generation apparatus and a travel path generation method enabling generation of a travel path not including a curve having a small radius of curvature. A travel path generation apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a parameter determination unit to determine a cutoff frequency based on spacing between points of a sequence of points each having location information and a predetermined threshold of a radius of curvature, the sequence of points representing a shape of a lane in which a vehicle travels in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system; and a filtering unit to perform low-pass filtering using the cutoff frequency determined by the parameter determination unit on the location information of each of the points of the sequence of points.