Methods and systems for assisting autonomous vehicles are provided. The methods and systems can help increase safety and consumer satisfaction with autonomous vehicles and help bridge the gap towards completely autonomy. A method for assisting autonomous vehicles can include providing an autonomous vehicle having sensory inputs and providing a remote control center having two-way communication with the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle can send its sensory input information to the control center and the control center can send control information to the autonomous vehicle.

When a travel path is to be generated for a vehicle, road surface lines (white lines, etc.) delimiting the traffic lane of the vehicle, and also external objects in the vehicle environment, are detected and registered as respective obstacles. Specific points are defined at appropriate locations on each obstacle, and the travel path is generated by connecting respective mid-point positions between opposed pairs of specific points, each pair defined on respective ones of an opposed (left-side, right-side) pair of the registered obstacles.

A device and method for safety stoppage of an autonomous road vehicle having a localization system and sensors for monitoring the vehicle surroundings and motion, and a signal processing system for processing sensor signals enabling an autonomous drive mode. A processor continuously predicts where a drivable space exists, calculates and stores a safe trajectory to a stop within the drivable space, determines a current traffic situation, and determines any disturbances in sensor data, vehicle systems or components enabling the autonomous drive mode. If an incapacitating disturbance is determined, a request for a driver to take control is signaled and it is determined if the driver has assumed control. If not, the vehicle is controlled to follow the most recent safe trajectory to a stop in a safe stoppage maneuver during which, or after, one or more risk mitigation actions adapted to the determined current traffic situation are performed.

In a method for assisting a driver of a motor vehicle in a driving maneuver, the surroundings of the vehicle are recorded, and it is checked whether at least one object is located in the surroundings of the vehicle, and it is ascertained subsequently whether the vehicle is approaching the object, and a warning to the driver is output if the vehicle approaches the object up to a critical distance. The driver is warned by a warning jerk, and after the warning jerk has taken place, the speed of the vehicle is automatically reduced.

A method for controlling a semi-autonomous vehicle modifies a current path for the vehicle desired by a driver of the vehicle. The current path starts at a current position of the vehicle and ends in a target position of the vehicle and the method modifies the current path while preserving the current position and the target position of the vehicle in the modified path. The method overrides the actions of the driver to control a movement of the vehicle according to the modified path.

A driving support apparatus according to the invention estimates the position of a moving body by controlling a position estimation unit when the tracking-target moving body leaves a first area or a second area to enter a blind spot area and detects the position of the moving body by controlling a position detection unit when the moving body leaves the blind spot area to enter the first area or the second area. In this manner, the trajectory of the tracking-target moving body is calculated so that the trajectory of the moving body detected in the first area or the second area and the trajectory of the moving body estimated in the blind spot area are continuous to each other and driving support is executed based on the calculated trajectory of the tracking-target moving body.

A learning device includes: input means for inputting route information on a set of routes each constituted by one or more ways, and passing mobile object information that indicates the number of passing mobile objects on an observed way, out of the one or more ways, at each time point; and learning means for learning parameters of a model in which a travel speed of the mobile objects is taken into consideration, using the route information and the passing mobile object information.

An adaptive sensing system is configured to acquire sensor data pertaining to objects in the vicinity of a land vehicle. The adaptive sensing system may be configured to identify objects that are at least partially obscured by other objects and, in response, the adaptive sensing system may be configured to modify the configuration of one or more sensors to obtain additional information pertaining to the obscured objects. The adaptive sensing system may comprise and/or be communicatively coupled to a collision detection module, which may use the sensor data acquired by the adaptive sensing system to detect potential collisions.

A context-aware safety device includes a wireless transceiver, a memory storing an application, and one or more processors. When executing the application, the one or more processors are configured to determine a context of a safety device, configure an alert based on the determined context, and broadcast the configured alert using the wireless transceiver.

A travel control device acquires subject vehicle information including the position of a subject vehicle, acquires lane marker information including positions of lane markers, sets control areas with reference to the lane markers, and controls a travel position of the subject vehicle so that the subject vehicle travels between a pair of control areas set at right and left of the subject vehicle. The lane markers include a change-point lane marker and includes a course change point When the pair of control areas set with reference to the change-point lane marker comprises one of the pair at a course change side of the subject vehicle and the other of the pair, the ratio of a width of the other to a width of the one is set larger than the ratio of the widths of control areas set with reference to a lane marker other than the change-point lane marker.