An alert control apparatus that notifies a driver in advance of a transfer of control relating to a driving operation from an automatic driving function to the driver by controlling an alert device mounted on a vehicle, which is equipped with the automatic driving function, includes: an estimator that estimates an occurrence of a change execution situation that requires a lane change under a condition in which the driving operation of the vehicle is controlled by the automatic driving function; a determiner that determines a level of difficulty of lane change control based on a plurality of travel environment factors in the change execution situation; and a notification device that notifies the driver of a possibility of the transfer of the control together with a reason of the transfer of the control with a notification mode corresponding to the level using the alert device.

Methods and systems for determining fault for an accident involving a vehicle having one or more autonomous and/or semi-autonomous operation features are provided. According to certain aspects, performance data indicative of the performance of the features may be used to determine fault for a vehicle accident, such as a collision, by allocating fault for the accident between a vehicle operator, the autonomous operation features, or a third party. The allocation of fault may be used to determine an adjustment to an insurance policy and/or adjust coverage levels for an insurance policy. The allocation of fault may further be used to adjust risk levels or profiles associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous operation features, which may be applied to other vehicles having the same or similar features.

Methods and systems for evaluating the effectiveness of autonomous operation features of autonomous vehicles are provided. According to certain aspects, information regarding autonomous operation features associated with a vehicle may be determined and used to determine a likelihood of an accident for the vehicle. Determining the likelihood of an accident may include determining risk factors for the features related to the ability of the features to make control decisions that successfully avoid accidents. This may include reference to test data or actual loss data associated with the features, as well as usage data regarding expected use of the features during vehicle operation. Effectiveness of the features may be evaluated relative to location or operating conditions, as well as types and severity of accidents. The determined effectiveness of the features of a vehicle may further be used to determine or adjust aspects of an insurance policy associated with the vehicle.

Methods and systems are provided for monitoring use of a vehicle having one or more autonomous (and/or semi-autonomous) operation features to determine and respond to incidents, such as collisions, thefts, or breakdowns. According to certain aspects, operating data from sensors within or near the vehicle may be used to determine when an incident has occurred and determine an appropriate response. The responses may include contacting a third party to provide assistance, such as local emergency services. In some embodiments, occurrence of the incident may be verified by automated communication with the vehicle operator.

A controller for use with autonomous vehicle functions comprises an input for receiving data regarding a set of vehicle factors, an output for controlling autonomous vehicle functions and a processor having control logic. The control logic receives data regarding the set of vehicle factors, sets the autonomous vehicle functions in a first mode when at least two of the vehicle factors meet a respective first condition and sets the autonomous vehicle functions in second mode when at least one of the vehicle factors meets a respective second condition.

A control apparatus for a vehicle includes a memory and a controller. The memory has a first storage area, which is a write restricted area storing one or more first control patterns out of a plurality of control patterns for the vehicle, and a second storage area, which is a write enabled area storing one or more second control patterns out of the plurality of control patterns for the vehicle. The controller determines whether a control condition for each of the plurality of control patterns is satisfied based on a state of the vehicle, to select one or more control patterns for each of which the control condition is satisfied, and to control the vehicle according to the selected one or more control patterns.

An autonomous driving controller includes: a processor to collect driving data when a vehicle is traveling and calculate a steering override reference value, which is a criterion of determining an override mode, based on the collected driving data; and a storage to store the collected driving data and a set of instructions executed by the processor to calculate the steering override reference value. In particular, the processor controls autonomous driving by varying the steering override reference value based on the collected driving data or information regarding a driver of the vehicle.

Systems, methods and apparatuses for motion control for an autonomous vehicle by implementing an adaptive skeleton construct interface with models, including: a first model which uses constructs for lateral control from a set of a plurality of constructs; and a second model which uses constructs for longitudinal control from a set of a plurality of constructs; and a path reconciling module for reconciling a path based on vehicle data to validate a path for operation and for implementing one or more of a set of lateral or longitudinal controls without having to re-create another lateral control or longitudinal control set, by selecting one or more of an already created lateral or longitudinal control sets to implement one or more sets of the plurality of constructs for vehicle control.

An apparatus and a method for supporting safe driving of a vehicle are provided. The apparatus includes a detector that detects surrounding information of the vehicle and state information of a driver. A processor determines whether attention of the driver is dispersed based on the state information of the driver when entrance of the vehicle into a dangerous driving situation is determined based on the surrounding information and restricts use of a convenience function in the vehicle based on whether the attention of the driver is dispersed.

A traveling position of a host vehicle is controlled using barrier lines as a reference. Autonomous driving is executed by either a both-side recognition control in which the position of the host vehicle is controlled based on left and right barrier lines, or a one-side recognition control in which the position of the host vehicle is controlled based on either one of the left or right the barrier lines. A region currently being traveled in is stored as a steering-wheel-turned region when a steering wheel is turned in one direction and subsequently turned in a returning direction due to the switching of control between the both-side recognition control and the one-side recognition control, and autonomous driving under the control preceding the steering-wheel-turned region is continued when the steering-wheel-turned region is subsequently traveled in.