# US 11,305,772 B2 · Driving assistance apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,305,772 B2 - Document ID: US11305772B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/743,648 - Filed: 2020-01-15 - Published: 2020-07-23 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2019-01-17 - Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Yuta Ikezawa; Kohei Tochigi; Shogo Ito - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11305772B2 ## CPC - B60W 30/181: {Preparing for stopping} - B60W 30/18127: {Regenerative braking} - B60W 10/06: including control of combustion engines - B60W 10/08: including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators - B60W 10/18: including control of braking systems - B60W 30/025: {related to comfort of drivers or passengers} - B60W 30/18072: {Coasting} - B60W 30/18136: {Engine braking} - B60W 40/076: Slope angle of the road - B60W 2520/10: Longitudinal speed - B60W 2540/10: Accelerator pedal position - B60W 2540/12: Brake pedal position - B60W 2540/221: Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs - B60W 2540/225: Direction of gaze - B60W 2552/15: Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction - B60W 2552/53: Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk - B60W 2554/802: Longitudinal distance - B60W 2555/60: Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way - 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 driving assistance apparatus can execute a deceleration assistance control, when there is a deceleration target ahead, of the vehicle in a course thereof. The driving assistance apparatus is provided with: a recognizer configured to recognize a surrounding situation of the vehicle; and a controller programed to execute the deceleration assistance control when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The controller is programed to suppress execution of the deceleration assistance control if a road as the recognized surrounding situation has a high extent of a downgrade, in comparison with a situation in which the road has a low extent of the downgrade. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A driving assistance apparatus configured to execute a deceleration assistance control of assisting in decelerating a vehicle, when there is a deceleration target ahead of the vehicle in a course thereof, said driving assistance apparatus comprising: an external information recognition device configured to recognize a surrounding situation of the vehicle; and a controller programed to execute the deceleration assistance control when a predetermined condition is satisfied, wherein said controller is programmed to suppress execution of the deceleration assistance control when a road as the recognized surrounding situation has a downgrade, in comparison with a situation in which the road does not have a downgrade, wherein when the road has a downgrade, said controller is programmed to suppress the execution of the deceleration assistance control by (i) increasing a period from a time point at which satisfying the predetermined condition to a time point at which starting the deceleration assistance control and/or (ii) making it difficult to satisfy the predetermined condition, in comparison with the situation in which the road does not have a downgrade. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the deceleration target is not something that requires the vehicle to stop, said controller is programmed to increase a period from a time point at which satisfying the predetermined condition to a time point at which starting the deceleration assistance control, in comparison with a situation in which the deceleration target is something that requires the vehicle to stop. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said controller is programmed to suppress the execution of the deceleration assistance control when the road has a downgrade and when the road has a high extent of the downgrade, in comparison with a situation in which the road has a low extent of the downgrade. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition includes such a requirement that the deceleration target is recognized by said external information recognition device, said external information recognition device is configured to recognize one or a plurality of objects around the vehicle as the surrounding situation and is configured to recognize an object that is in a predetermined range from the vehicle, as the deceleration target, from among the one or the plurality of objects recognized, and said controller is programmed to make it difficult to satisfy the predetermined condition, by reducing the predetermined range, when the road has a high extent of the downgrade, in comparison with a situation in which the road has a low extent of the downgrade. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said controller is programmed to suppress the execution of the deceleration assistance control when the road has a downgrade and when the road has a high extent of the downgrade, in comparison with a situation in which the road has a low extent of the downgrade. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said controller is programmed to suppress the execution of the deceleration assistance control when the road has a downgrade and when the road has a high extent of the downgrade, in comparison with a situation in which the road has a low extent of the downgrade. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said external information recognition device is configured to receive an output of at least one of a radar, a camera, and a light detection and ranging (Lidar) and recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle based on such output.