A vehicle control device includes a controller configured to control operation of a braking device and operation of a driving motor. The controller can switch between a normal mode of controlling acceleration/deceleration in accordance with a driver's acceleration/deceleration operation, and a cruise control mode of maintaining the vehicle speed at a target speed without being dependent on the acceleration/deceleration operation. The controller is configured to execute braking control, including braking by the braking device and regenerative braking by the driving motor, during the cruise control mode in accordance with a change in a vehicle traveling condition. The braking control includes causing the braking device to generate a braking force without using the regenerative braking and subsequently executing a braking-force switching process including increasing a braking force by the regenerative braking while reducing the braking force from the braking device, if a determination result indicates that the vehicle speed is stable.

An electrically controlled differential gear is disposed between a right front wheel and a left front wheel of a vehicle. The electrically controlled differential gear includes a clutch mechanism that limits a differential operation of the electrically controlled differential gear. A second ECU (control portion) obtains information as to failure associated with actuation of a right front electric brake mechanism. The second ECU obtains a physical amount relating to a required braking force which is applied to the left front wheel and the right front wheel. The second ECU outputs a differential limiting control command for limiting the differential operation of the electrically controlled differential gear to the clutch mechanism (or more specifically, a differential ECU that controls the clutch mechanism) based on the information as to the failure and the physical amount relating to the required braking force.

A system and a method of improving a braking performance during a failure of a brake-by-wire (BBW) device, includes BBW devices including electro-mechanical brakes provided for respective wheels of a vehicle and independently performing braking, and the BBW devices including controllers electrically connected to the electro-mechanical brakes, and the system includes a steer-by-wire controller configured for controlling front wheels through an electronic signal and a rear wheel steering (RWS) controller configured for controlling steering of rear wheels such that a rear wheel steering angle is to be controlled in the same or an antiphase of a front wheel steering angle, wherein when one of the controllers fails, at least one of the steer-by-wire controller and the RWS controller is configured to control steering based on whether a driver's required braking force exceeds a maximum braking force which may be generated by any one of the front and rear wheels.

Systems and methods use cameras to provide autonomous navigation features. In one implementation, a method for navigating a user vehicle may include acquiring, using at least one image capture device, a plurality of images of an area in a vicinity of the user vehicle; determining from the plurality of images a first lane constraint on a first side of the user vehicle and a second lane constraint on a second side of the user vehicle opposite to the first side of the user vehicle; enabling the user vehicle to pass a target vehicle if the target vehicle is determined to be in a lane different from the lane in which the user vehicle is traveling; and causing the user vehicle to abort the pass before completion of the pass, if the target vehicle is determined to be entering the lane in which the user vehicle is traveling.

A braking force control system includes: a brake device and at least one electronic control unit. The brake device is configured to generate a braking force commensurate with a brake operation amount of a driver. At least one electronic control unit is configured to execute vehicle speed control for controlling a speed of a vehicle to a target speed by controlling a driving force and a braking force. The electronic control unit is configured to cause the brake device to generate an actual braking force corresponding to a total value of an additional braking force and an operational braking force when brake operation is performed during execution of the vehicle speed control. The additional braking force corresponds to a controlled braking force required by the vehicle speed control. The operational braking force is required through the brake operation.

Embodiments herein can determine an optimal route for an autonomous electric vehicle. The system may score viable routes between the start and end locations of a trip using a numeric or other scale that denotes how viable the route is for autonomy. The score is adjusted using a variety of factors where a learning process leverages both offline and online data. The scored routes are not based simply on the shortest distance between the start and end points but determine the best route based on the driving context for the vehicle and the user.

An automated valet parking system, an automated valet parking method, and an automated valet parking infrastructure, and a vehicle having an automated valet parking feature are disclosed. In particular, the vehicle can autonomously move to and park in a designated parking spot by communicating with the infrastructure. In addition, the vehicle can autonomously move to a pickup area from a parking spot by communicating with the infrastructure.

A method can be used to control a steer-by-wire steering system in an emergency steering mode. The method comprises checking a steering system for the presence of a fault state and upon detection of a fault implementing the emergency steering mode, which involves determining a setpoint position of a steering tie rod using a setpoint wheel steering angle, determining a front wheel to be braked and a brake pressure to attain the setpoint position with a control unit, transmitting the front wheel to be braked and the brake pressure to a brake system, braking the front wheel to be braked, and increasing a torque provided by a wheel drive to compensate for a loss of speed of the motor vehicle caused by the braking of the front wheel to be braked.

A histogram is calculated based on a road surface image of a portion around a vehicle, a running-allowed region in which the vehicle can run is detected based on the histogram, an obstacle region is extracted based on the running-allowed region, and a position of an obstacle in the obstacle region is detected, to further enhance the accuracy of detecting an obstacle around the vehicle as compared with conventional art.

Systems and methods use cameras to provide autonomous navigation features. In one implementation, a method for navigating a user vehicle may include acquiring, using at least one image capture device, a plurality of images of an area in a vicinity of the user vehicle; determining from the plurality of images a first lane constraint on a first side of the user vehicle and a second lane constraint on a second side of the user vehicle opposite to the first side of the user vehicle; enabling the user vehicle to pass a target vehicle if the target vehicle is determined to be in a lane different from the lane in which the user vehicle is traveling; and causing the user vehicle to abort the pass before completion of the pass, if the target vehicle is determined to be entering the lane in which the user vehicle is traveling.