# US 11,299,156 B2 · Vehicle travel control apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,299,156 B2 - Document ID: US11299156B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/816,711 - Filed: 2020-03-12 - Published: 2020-09-17 - Granted: 2022-04-12 - Earliest claimed: 2019-03-14 - Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Yuichi Kato; Yuko Hiratsuka - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11299156B2 ## CPC - B60W 30/17: with provision for special action when the preceding vehicle comes to a halt, e.g. stop and go - B60W 30/165: Automatically following the path of a preceding lead vehicle, e.g. "electronic tow-bar" - B60W 30/18018: {Start-stop drive, e.g. in a traffic jam} - B60W 30/182: Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes - B60W 40/04: Traffic conditions - B60W 40/06: Road conditions - B60W 50/14: Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention - G06V 20/56: exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle - B60W 2050/0095: {Automatic control mode change} - B60W 2540/215: Selection or confirmation of options - B60W 2554/406: Traffic density - B60W 2556/45: External transmission of data to or from the vehicle - 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 - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract Provided is a vehicle travel control apparatus configured to set an operation mode of automatic start control to any one of a first mode, in which the automatic start control is executed, and a second mode, in which the automatic start control is not executed, the vehicle travel control apparatus being further configured to: issue to a driver a notification for inquiring whether the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed when the current travel state of an own vehicle is a specific state; and set the operation mode of the automatic start control to the first mode when the driver has performed a predetermined response operation in response to the notification. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle travel control apparatus, comprising: an information acquisition device comprising a sensor configured to acquire vehicle peripheral information including object information on an object existing around an own vehicle; a vehicle controller configured to execute, based on the vehicle peripheral information, following-travel inter-vehicle-distance control of causing the own vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle traveling immediately ahead of the own vehicle while maintaining an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle at a predetermined distance, and to execute automatic start control of causing the own vehicle to automatically start when the preceding vehicle starts after the own vehicle has been stopped by the following-travel inter-vehicle-distance control in response to stopping of the preceding vehicle; a notification device comprising at least one of a display or a speaker configured to issue to a driver a notification for inquiring whether the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed; and an operation device comprising a switch to be operated by the driver in order to perform a predetermined response operation in response to the notification, the vehicle controller being configured to set an operation mode of the automatic start control to any one of a first mode, in which the automatic start control is executed, and a second mode, in which the automatic start control is inhibited from being executed, the vehicle controller being further configured to, when the own vehicle has stopped in response to the stopping of the preceding vehicle during execution of the following-travel inter-vehicle-distance control and when the operation mode is set to the second mode: determine, based on the vehicle peripheral information, whether a current travel state of the own vehicle is a specific state, in which there is a probability that the driver desires the automatic start control to be executed; cause the notification device to issue the notification upon determination that the travel state is the specific state; set the operation mode to the first mode when the driver has performed the response operation; and maintain the operation mode in the second mode when the driver has not performed the response operation. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle controller is configured to, when the operation mode is set to the first mode: maintain the operation mode in the first mode until a predetermined finish condition is satisfied; and change the operation mode from the first mode to the second mode when the predetermined finish condition is satisfied. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition device further comprises a database configured to acquire, as the vehicle peripheral information, road information, which is information on a type of a road on which the own vehicle is traveling, and wherein the vehicle controller is configured to: determine, based on the vehicle peripheral information, whether a first specific state condition is satisfied, the first specific state condition being satisfied when the own vehicle is traveling on a limited-access road; and determine, upon determination that at least the first specific state condition is satisfied, that the travel state is the specific state. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle controller is configured to: determine, based on the vehicle peripheral information, whether a traffic-congestion condition is satisfied, the traffic-congestion condition being satisfied when the own vehicle is traveling in a traffic-congestion section; and determine, upon determination that the traffic-congestion condition is satisfied in addition to the first specific state condition, that the travel state is the specific state. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition device further comprises a database configured to acquire, as the vehicle peripheral information, road information, which is information on a type of a road on which the own vehicle is traveling, and wherein the vehicle controller is configured to: determine, based on the vehicle peripheral information, whether a second specific state condition is satisfied, the second specific state condition being satisfied when the own vehicle is traveling on a general road and a predetermined moving object does not exist around the own vehicle; and determine, upon determination that at least the second specific state condition is satisfied, that the travel state is the specific state. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the vehicle controller is configured to: determine, based on the vehicle peripheral information, whether a traffic-congestion condition is satisfied, the traffic-congestion condition being satisfied when the own vehicle is traveling in a traffic-congestion section; and determine, upon determination that the traffic-congestion condition is satisfied in addition to the second specific state condition, that the travel state is the specific state.