It is an object of the present invention to switch driving modes smoothly and ensure that a passenger understands driving operations controlled in the relevant driving mode and necessary driving operations. An autonomous driving control apparatus capable of switching between a manual driving mode which requires driving operation by a passenger of a vehicle, and an autonomous control mode which does not require the driving operation by the passenger of the vehicle is provided, wherein the autonomous driving control apparatus includes: an autonomous driving control unit that controls the vehicle in the autonomous control mode; and an information notification unit that gives notice to the passenger of the vehicle, wherein when the driving operation by the passenger is required after switching from the autonomous control mode to the manual driving mode, the autonomous driving control unit performs first notice control to cause the information notification unit to give notice that the driving operation by the passenger is required.

Systems, apparatus, and methods implemented in algorithms, software, firmware, logic, or circuitry may be configured to process data and sensory input in real-time to determine whether an object external to an autonomous vehicle may be a potential collision threat to the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle may be configured to deploy one or more bladders positioned external to the autonomous vehicle to absorb forces from an impact to the vehicle by the object. A perception system of the vehicle may receive a sensor signal and generate object data associated with the object. A planner system of the vehicle may process the object data to predict an impact time and an impact location on the vehicle. The planner system may cause a drive system of the vehicle to maneuver the vehicle to position an impact-absorbing structure and/or one or more bladders of the vehicle to coincide with the predicted impact location.

A driving system for a vehicle includes: a communication apparatus; at least one processor; and a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations that include: receiving, through the communication apparatus, Advanced Driver Assistance system (ADAS) information that is based on a location of the vehicle; determining, based on the ADAS information, whether to use at least one ADAS for the vehicle; and based on a determination of whether to use the at least one ADAS for the vehicle, providing a control signal for controlling at least one of a steering operation, a brake operation, or an acceleration operation of the vehicle.

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.

A method for adaptive risk modeling for an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising: retrieving parameters of an identified driving mission of the autonomous vehicle; in response to the parameters of the identified driving mission, generating values of: a comparative autonomous parameter, a mix model parameter, a surrounding risk parameter, a geographic operation parameter, and a security risk parameter upon evaluating situational inputs associated with the identified driving mission with a comparative autonomous model, a mix model, a sensor-surrounding model, a geography-dependent model, and a security risk model generated using sensor and supplementary data extraction systems associated with the autonomous vehicle; upon generating values, generating a risk analysis with a rule-based algorithm; and contemporaneously with execution of the identified driving mission, implementing a response action associated with control of the autonomous vehicle, based upon the risk analysis.

A method that may include receiving driving information and environmental metadata indicative of information sensed by the vehicle; detecting multiple driving events encountered during the driving over the path; determining driving events; for each driving event, determining a comfort based autonomous driving pattern information; for each driving event, determining an driving event identifier; and storing in at least one data structure a driving event identifier for each one of the multiple types of driving events, and a comfort based autonomous driving pattern information.

A method for signaling a driving intention of an autonomous vehicle is provided. The method includes steps of: a driving intention signaling device (a) detecting a pedestrian ahead of the autonomous vehicle using surroundings video images, and determining whether the pedestrian crosses a roadway using a virtual crosswalk; (b) if the pedestrian crosses the roadway, estimating a crosswalking trajectory, corresponding to an expected path of the pedestrian, by referring to a moving trajectory of the pedestrian, setting a driving plan of the autonomous vehicle referring to driving information and the crosswalking trajectory, and allowing the autonomous vehicle to self-drive by the driving plan; and (c) determining whether the pedestrian pays attention to the autonomous vehicle by referring to gaze patterns and, if not, allowing delivery of the driving intention to the pedestrian and/or a nearby driver, via an external display and/or an external speaker.

Systems and methods related to dynamic map layers for autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles and allowing real-time (e.g. latency of less than one second) updates utilizing a plurality of available surrounding sensors (e.g., collaborative sensors), including roadside sensors and sensors of other nearby vehicles. When a vehicle detects an obstruction to a field of view of a sensor, the vehicle may request sensor data from other vehicles to fill the gap in sensor data of the vehicle. This allows the vehicle driver or vehicle illumination system to be focused on the obstructed area.

A driving system for a vehicle includes: a communication device; at least one processor; and a computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations including: acquiring, through the communication device, driving control data from a first autonomous driving vehicle; determining a driving speed based on the acquired driving control data; and based on the driving speed, generating a control signal configured to track the first autonomous driving vehicle within a predetermined distance.

This invention provides a secure self-driving system or drive-assisting system. A drive control system of the present invention has an image recognition unit for detecting the peripheral environment of a vehicle and a drive control apparatus that controls driving of the vehicle, characterized by having a peripheral environment storage unit for storing the peripheral environment of the vehicle and by changing a mode of drive control performed by the drive control apparatus on the basis of a detection performance status of the image recognition unit obtained on the basis of information about the peripheral environment stored in the peripheral environment storage unit and information detected by the image recognition unit.