An advanced pedestrian warning or alert system is a system for automotive vehicles is described herein in various embodiments. This system detects if a vulnerable road user, for example a pedestrian, is at an unsafe distance from the moving vehicle. If a pedestrian is too close to the vehicle when the vehicle is in motion, then the system will issue auditory and/or visual warnings to notify the pedestrian back to safety.

The invention relates to a method for piloting means (13, 14, 15) for driving a motor vehicle (10) according to either of two driving modes, i.e.: a manual driving mode, wherein the driving means are controlled manually, by the motor vehicle driver (20), and an autonomous driving mode, wherein the driving means are controlled automatically, by a calculation unit (12) of the motor vehicle. According to the invention, when the autonomous driving mode is exited, the following steps are provided: acquiring at least one image of the surrounding area in from of the motor vehicle, calculating a coefficient of visibility of at least a portion of the surrounding area in the image acquired, and c) selecting, depending on said coefficient of visibility, a way to exit the autonomous driving mode, from at least two separate exiting ways.

An embodiment of an antenna includes first and second transmission lines, first antenna elements, and second antenna elements. The first transmission line is configured to guide a first signal such that the first signal has a characteristic of a first value, and the second transmission line is configured to guide a second signal such that the second signal has the same characteristic but of a second value that is different than the first value. The first antenna elements are each disposed adjacent to the first transmission line and are each configured to radiate the first signal in response to a respective first control signal, and the second antenna elements are each disposed adjacent to the second transmission line and are each configured to radiate the second signal in response to a respective second control signal. Such an antenna can have better main-beam and side-lobe characteristics, and a better SIR, than prior antennas.

The present disclosure relates to navigational systems for vehicles. In one implementation, such a navigational system may receive a first output from a first sensor and a second output from a second sensor; identify a target object in the first output; determine whether the target object is included in the second output; and determine a detected driving condition associated with the target object and whether the condition triggers a navigational constraint. If the navigational constraint is not triggered, the system may cause a first navigational adjustment if the target object is included in both the first output and the second output, and may forego any navigational adjustments if the target object is included in the first output but not in the second output. If the navigational constraint is triggered and the target object is included either in the first or second output, the system may cause a second navigational adjustment.

Methods and systems autonomously parking and retrieving vehicles are disclosed. Available parking spaces or parking facilities may be identified, and the vehicle may be navigated to an available space from a drop-off location without passengers. Special-purpose sensors, GPS data, or wireless signal triangulation may be used to identify vehicles and available parking spots. Upon a user request or a prediction of upcoming user demand, the vehicle may be retrieved autonomously from a parking space. Other vehicles may be autonomously moved to facilitate parking or retrieval.

Described herein is a method and system for assisting a driver of a vehicle (1) to drive with precaution. Vehicle environment monitoring sensors (3a, 3b) determines other road users and particular features associated with a traffic situation of the vehicle (1) and hypotheses are applied related to hypothetical threats that may arise based thereupon. A driver level of attention, required to handle the hypothetical threats, and a time until that level will be required is estimated. A current driver level of attention is derived, from driver-monitoring sensors (4). If determined that the estimated required driver level of attention exceeds the current and the time until the estimated driver level of attention will be required is less than a threshold-time (t.sub.thres), there is produced at least one of visual (5), acoustic (6) and haptic (7) information to a vehicle driver environment, and/or triggered at least one of automated braking (8) and steering (9) of the vehicle (1).

A navigation system for a host vehicle may include at least one processor programmed to receive, from a camera, a plurality of images representative of an environment of the host vehicle. The processor may also be programmed to analyze at least one of the plurality of images to identify navigational state information associated with the host vehicle; determine a plurality of potential trajectories for the host vehicle based on the navigational state information; perform a preliminary analysis relative to each of the plurality of potential trajectories and assign to each of the plurality of potential trajectories, based on the preliminary analysis, at least one indicator of relative ranking; select, based on the at least one indicator of relative ranking assigned to each of the plurality of potential trajectories, a subset of the plurality of potential trajectories, wherein the subset of the plurality of potential trajectories includes fewer potential trajectories than the plurality of potential trajectories; perform a secondary analysis relative to the subset of the plurality of potential trajectories, and based on the secondary analysis, select one of the subset of the plurality of potential trajectories as a planned trajectory for the host vehicle; determine one or more navigational actions for the host vehicle based on the planned trajectory selected from among the subset of the plurality of potential trajectories; and cause at least one adjustment of a navigational actuator of the host vehicle to implement the one or more navigational actions for the host vehicle.

An autonomous vehicle configured for active sensing may also be configured to weigh expected information gains from active-sensing actions against risk costs associated with the active-sensing actions. An example method involves: (a) receiving information from one or more sensors of an autonomous vehicle, (b) determining a risk-cost framework that indicates risk costs across a range of degrees to which an active-sensing action can be performed, wherein the active-sensing action comprises an action that is performable by the autonomous vehicle to potentially improve the information upon which at least one of the control processes for the autonomous vehicle is based, (c) determining an information-improvement expectation framework across the range of degrees to which the active-sensing action can be performed, and (d) applying the risk-cost framework and the information-improvement expectation framework to determine a degree to which the active-sensing action should be performed.

A vehicle control device includes a vehicle speed control unit configured to execute a vehicle speed control for automatically accelerating a vehicle, regardless of an accelerator operation. The vehicle speed control unit prohibits an execution of the vehicle speed control during a predetermined period, after a detection is made that the vehicle collided, and permits the execution of the vehicle speed control after an elapse of the predetermined period.

In the present invention, it is possible to accurately predict, at an earlier timing, that a pedestrian will perform constant speed movement or a route change that is more complex than the constant speed movement. Provided is a travel control device that can accurately determine a change in the route of the pedestrian according to a change in the pedestrian's posture and, in particular, a change in the orientation of the body or a change in an inverted angle, and that can appropriately control the travel of the vehicle.