# US 10,870,431 B2 · Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and storage medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,870,431 B2 - Document ID: US10870431B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/190,186 - Filed: 2018-11-14 - Published: 2019-05-30 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2017-11-27 - Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Koji Kawabe; Hiroshi Miura; Makoto Ishikawa; Masamitsu Tsuchiya - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10870431B2 ## CPC - B60W 40/02: related to ambient conditions - B60W 10/04: including control of propulsion units - B60W 10/20: including control of steering systems - B60W 30/02: Control of vehicle driving stability - B60W 30/09: Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering - B60W 30/18163: {Lane change; Overtaking manoeuvres} - B60W 2420/403: Image sensing, e.g. optical camera - B60W 2552/00: Input parameters relating to infrastructure - B60W 2552/30: Road curve radius - B60W 2552/53: Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk - B60W 2555/20: Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain - B60W 2710/20: Steering systems - B60W 2720/106: Longitudinal acceleration - 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 ## Abstract A vehicle control device includes an imaging unit that images surroundings of an own-vehicle, a detector that detects a state of an external appearance of an oncoming vehicle facing the own-vehicle in a tunnel on the basis of an image captured by the imaging unit, and a determiner that determines whether or not the state of the external appearance of the oncoming vehicle satisfies a predetermined condition on the basis of the state of the external appearance of the oncoming vehicle detected by the detector and determines that the outside of the tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather if the state of the external appearance of the oncoming vehicle satisfies the predetermined condition. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle control device comprising: a detector configured to detect a state of an oncoming vehicle facing an own-vehicle and a state of a road surface in an oncoming lane in which the oncoming vehicle is present based on an image captured by a camera attached to the own-vehicle; and a determiner configured to determine that an outside of a tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather if the detector detects that a wiper of the oncoming vehicle is operating and that the road surface of the oncoming lane is wet while the own-vehicle is traveling in the tunnel. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the determiner is configured to determine that the outside of the tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather if the detector detects that snow is attached to the oncoming vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the determiner is configured to compare a luminance value of an image captured near an entrance of the tunnel by the imaging unit and a luminance value of an image captured near an exit of the tunnel by the imaging unit and to determine that the outside of the tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather on the basis of a result of the comparison. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising a driving controller configured to control one or both of steering or acceleration/deceleration of the own-vehicle, wherein the driving controller is configured to stop control if the determiner determines that the outside of the tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising a driving controller configured to control one or both of steering or acceleration/deceleration of the own-vehicle, wherein the driving controller is configured to decelerate the own-vehicle if the determiner determines that the outside of the tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather. ### Claim 6 A vehicle control method performed by an in-vehicle computer mounted in an own-vehicle, the vehicle control method comprising: the in-vehicle computer detecting a state of an oncoming vehicle facing the own-vehicle and a state of a road surface in an oncoming lane in which the oncoming vehicle is present based on an image captured by a camera attached to the own-vehicle; and determining that an outside of a tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather in response to detecting that a wiper of the oncoming vehicle is operating and that the road surface of the oncoming lane is wet while the own-vehicle is in the tunnel. ### Claim 7 A computer readable non-transitory storage medium storing a program causing an in-vehicle computer mounted in an own-vehicle having an imaging unit configured to image surroundings of the own-vehicle to: detect a state of an oncoming vehicle facing the own-vehicle and a state of a road surface in an oncoming lane in which the oncoming vehicle is present based on an image captured by a camera attached to the own-vehicle; and determine that an outside of a tunnel toward which the own-vehicle is traveling has bad weather in response to detecting that a wiper of the oncoming vehicle is operating and that the road surface of the oncoming lane is wet while the own-vehicle is in the tunnel.