# US 10,121,371 B2 · Driving assistance device, and driving assistance method

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- Number: US 10,121,371 B2
- Document ID: US10121371B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/301,825
- Filed: 2014-04-15
- Published: 2017-04-27
- Granted: 2018-11-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-04-15
- Assignees: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- Applicants: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- Inventors: Hisashi Sugawara
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10121371B2

## CPC

- G08G 1/09623: {Systems involving the acquisition of information from passive traffic signs by means mounted on the vehicle (G08G1/0967 takes precedence)}
- B60W 30/143: {Speed control (B60W30/16 takes precedence)}
- B60W 30/18127: {Regenerative braking}
- B60W 30/18154: {Approaching an intersection}
- B60W 40/105: Speed
- G01C 21/3492: {employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical (traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968)}
- G08G 1/0112: {from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]}
- G08G 1/0129: {for creating historical data or processing based on historical data}
- G08G 1/0133: {for classifying traffic situation}
- G08G 1/0141: {for traffic information dissemination}
- G08G 1/0145: {for active traffic flow control}
- G08G 1/052: with provision for determining speed or overspeed {(speed measuring in general G01P)}
- G08G 1/096716: {where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control}
- G08G 1/09675: {where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle}
- G08G 1/096775: {where the origin of the information is a central station}
- B60W 2520/10: Longitudinal speed
- B60W 2540/30: Driving style
- B60W 2556/45: External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
- B60W 2556/50: of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
- B60W 2556/65: Data transmitted between vehicles
- B60W 2710/083: Torque
- B60W 2710/18: Braking system
- B60W 2754/30: Longitudinal distance
- B60W 2754/50: Relative longitudinal speed
- G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93})
- B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)

## Abstract

A travel pattern communication unit 15 receives a low fuel consumption travel pattern of a preceding vehicle of an own vehicle from a server device 200. A travel pattern correction unit 17 corrects a reference travel pattern of the own vehicle generated by a travel pattern generation unit 16 based on the low fuel consumption travel pattern of the preceding vehicle received by the travel pattern communication unit 15.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A driving assistance device, comprising:
a traffic situation detector to acquire signal information representing indication schedule of a traffic signal;
a vehicle speed detector to acquire a speed of an own vehicle as information;
a current position detector to acquire a current position of the own vehicle as current positional information;
a travel route generator to acquire, as travel route information, a spot where deceleration is required on a planned travel route along which the own vehicle travels;
a history information storage to store, as history information, the vehicle information correlated to the current positional information;
a travel pattern generator to generate a travel pattern by acquiring a recommended speed when the own vehicle travels along the travel route based on the signal information, the vehicle information, the current positional information, the travel route information, and the history information;
a travel pattern communicator to transmit the travel pattern of the own vehicle generated by the travel pattern generator and receive a travel pattern of a preceding vehicle of the own vehicle by communicating with a server device;
a travel pattern corrector to correct the travel pattern of the own vehicle generated by the travel pattern generator based on the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle received by the travel pattern communicator from the server device; and
an information provider to provide the own vehicle with the travel pattern of the own vehicle generated by the travel pattern generator or corrected by the travel pattern corrector.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The driving assistance device according to claim 1, wherein in a case where the travel pattern of the own vehicle generated by the travel pattern generator interferes with the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle received by the travel pattern communicator, the travel pattern corrector performs correction such that the travel pattern of the own vehicle does not interfere.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The driving assistance device according to claim 2, wherein in a case where an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle is shorter than a threshold based on the travel pattern of the own vehicle generated by the travel pattern generator and the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle received by the travel pattern communicator, the travel pattern corrector corrects the travel pattern of the own vehicle such that the inter-vehicle distance becomes the threshold or longer.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The driving assistance device according to claim 3, wherein the history information storage stores a threshold of an inter-vehicle distance in accordance with driving characteristics of a driver of the own vehicle acquired from the history information, and the travel pattern corrector determines necessity to correct the travel pattern of the own vehicle based on the threshold stored in the history information storage.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The driving assistance device according to claim 3, wherein in a case where the own vehicle is a vehicle having a motor mounted as a drive source, the travel pattern corrector corrects the travel pattern of the own vehicle considering deceleration by regenerative driving.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The driving assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the history information storage stores acceleration and deceleration in accordance with characteristics of the own vehicle acquired from the history information, and the travel pattern generator generates the travel pattern of the own vehicle based on the acceleration and the deceleration stored in the history information storage.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The driving assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the travel pattern communicator performs transmission of the travel pattern of the own vehicle and receipt of the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle every time the own vehicle enters a travel section set on the travel route.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The driving assistance device according to claim 7, wherein in a case where the travel pattern corrector corrects the travel pattern of the own vehicle, the travel pattern communicator performs transmission of the corrected travel pattern of the own vehicle and receipt of the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle every time the own vehicle enters the travel section.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The driving assistance device according to claim 7, wherein the travel pattern communicator receives a travel pattern of the preceding vehicle from the server device in the event of at least one of cases where: the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle is generated; and the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle is corrected.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The driving assistance device according to claim 7, wherein the travel pattern communicator performs transmission of the travel pattern of the own vehicle and receipt of the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle in the event of at least one of cases where: the travel pattern generator generates the travel pattern of the own vehicle; the own vehicle changes a lane; traffic jam or a stopped vehicle is detected ahead of the own vehicle; and resolution of the detected traffic jam or the detected stopped vehicle is detected.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The driving assistance device according to claim 1, wherein
the traffic situation detector acquires lane information representing a lane where the own vehicle travels,
the travel pattern communicator transmits the travel pattern of the own vehicle generated by the travel pattern generator with correlated to the lane information acquired by the traffic situation detector, and receives a travel pattern and lane information of the preceding vehicle, and
the travel pattern corrector corrects the travel pattern of the own vehicle based on the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle existing on a lane same as the own vehicle.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The driving assistance device according to claim 11, wherein the travel pattern corrector performs correction to change the lane where the own vehicle travels to a different lane in a case where an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle existing on the same lane is shorter than a threshold and also in a case where an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and a preceding vehicle existing on a different lanes is the threshold or longer based on the travel pattern and the lane information of the own vehicle and the travel pattern and the lane information of the preceding vehicle.

### Claim 13

A driving assistance method of a driving assistance device to provide a travel pattern of an own vehicle, comprising:
acquiring a recommended speed when the own vehicle travels a travel route and generating a travel pattern;
transmitting the generated travel pattern of the own vehicle and receiving a travel pattern of a preceding vehicle of the own vehicle by communicating with a server device;
correcting the generated travel pattern of the own vehicle based on the travel pattern of the preceding vehicle received from the server device; and
providing the own vehicle with the generated or corrected travel pattern of the own vehicle.