# US 11,029,689 B2 · Vehicle control system

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- Number: US 11,029,689 B2
- Document ID: US11029689B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/121,740
- Filed: 2018-09-05
- Published: 2019-03-07
- Granted: 2021-06-08
- Earliest claimed: 2017-09-05
- Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
- Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
- Inventors: Kensei Hata; Hiroaki Kodera; Takahito Endo; Naoki Harayama; Katsuya Iwazaki; Yushi Seki; Hideaki Komada
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11029689B2

## CPC

- B60Q 1/085: {due to special conditions, e.g. adverse weather, type of road, badly illuminated road signs or potential dangers (B60Q1/10, B60Q1/12, B60Q1/1423 take precedence)}
- B60Q 1/08: automatically
- G05D 1/0212: {with means for defining a desired trajectory (involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287)}
- G06F 16/29: Geographical information databases
- H05B 47/105: in response to determined parameters
- H05B 47/115: by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings
- H05B 47/125: by using cameras
- B60Q 2200/30: Special arrangements for adjusting headlamps, e.g. means for transmitting the movements for adjusting the lamps
- B60Q 2300/20: Indexing codes relating to the driver or the passengers
- B60Q 2300/45: Special conditions, e.g. pedestrians, road signs or potential dangers
- G01S 13/862: {Combination of radar systems with sonar systems}
- G01S 13/865: {Combination of radar systems with lidar systems}
- G01S 13/867: {Combination of radar systems with cameras}
- G01S 17/86: Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
- G01S 17/931: of land vehicles
- G01S 2013/9316: {combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations}
- G01S 2013/9323: {Alternative operation using light waves}
- G01S 2013/9324: {Alternative operation using ultrasonic waves}
- G05D 1/0231: {using optical position detecting means (position-fixing by using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. optical position detecting means G01S5/16)}
- G08G 1/166: {for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes}
- Y02B 20/40: Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection
- B60Q: ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- 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})
- Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS

## Abstract

A vehicle control system configured to maintain detection accuracy of an external sensor such as an on-board camera. The vehicle control system is applied to a vehicle that can be operated autonomously. A controller communicates with a database stored on the controller and a database stored on an external facility. The controller changes orientation of a headlamp toward an object detected by an on-board camera, in a case that the headlamp is turned on, and that information about the object detected by the on-board camera is not available in the database.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A vehicle control system for use with a vehicle having: a prime mover; a brake device that applies braking force to a wheel; a steering system that turns the wheels; a lighting device that emits a light; an external sensor that detects external conditions; and a controller that controls the prime mover, the brake device, and the steering system based on information about the external conditions detected by the external sensor, so as to operate the vehicle autonomously without requiring a manual operation, the vehicle control system comprising:
a network interface that communicates with: (a) a first database stored in the vehicle, and (b) a second database stored in an external facility, both the first and second database containing a map database; and
the controller being configured to:
detect whether an object having road information is present in a vicinity of the vehicle via the external sensor,
determine whether information about the road information of the detected object is not available in the map database of both the first database of the vehicle and the second database of the external facility via the network interface,
change the orientation of the lighting device toward the detected object when: (i) the lighting device is turned on, and (ii) the information about the road information of the detected object is not available in the map database of both the first database of the vehicle and the second database of the external facility, and
further change the orientation of the lighting device towards the detected object in a case when a detection accuracy of the external sensor is reduced as a result of orienting the lighting device toward the detected object, including:
determining that the detection accuracy of the external sensor is reduced when the detected object is a light emitting object or a reflection object,
further changing the orientation of the lighting device such that light is emitted to only a portion of the detected object that does not include a light emitting portion when the detected object corresponds to the light emitting object, and
further changing the orientation of the lighting device such that light is emitted to only a portion of the detected object that does not include a reflecting portion when the detected object corresponds to the reflection object.