# US 11,307,577 B2 · Autonomous driving control device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,307,577 B2 - Document ID: US11307577B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/930,970 - Filed: 2020-05-13 - Published: 2020-08-27 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-08 - Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Kentaro Ichikawa; Bunyo Okumura; Maiko Hirano - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11307577B2 ## CPC - B60W 60/0053: {from vehicle to occupant} - B60W 50/082: {Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling} - B60W 50/14: Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention - B60W 60/0059: {Estimation of the risk associated with autonomous or manual driving, e.g. situation too complex, sensor failure or driver incapacity} - G05D 1/00: Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots (drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00) - G05D 1/0061: {for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa} - B60W 2050/0073: {Driver overrides controller} - B60W 2420/403: Image sensing, e.g. optical camera - B60W 2420/408: Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar - B60W 2510/202: Steering torque - B60W 2520/00: Input parameters relating to overall vehicle dynamics - B60W 2520/10: Longitudinal speed - B60W 2520/105: Longitudinal acceleration - B60W 2520/125: Lateral acceleration - B60W 2520/14: Yaw - B60W 2520/28: Wheel speed - B60W 2540/00: Input parameters relating to occupants - B60W 2540/10: Accelerator pedal position - B60W 2540/12: Brake pedal position - B60W 2540/18: Steering angle - B60W 2540/223: Posture, e.g. hand, foot, or seat position, turned or inclined - B60W 2540/225: Direction of gaze - B60W 2540/229: Attention level, e.g. attentive to driving, reading or sleeping - B60W 2540/26: Incapacity - B60W 2552/30: Road curve radius - B60W 2552/53: Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk - B60W 2554/20: Static objects - B60W 2554/4026: Cycles - B60W 2554/4029: Pedestrians - B60W 2554/4041: Position - B60W 2554/60: Traversable objects, e.g. speed bumps or curbs - B60W 2554/80: Spatial relation or speed relative to objects - B60W 2556/50: of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data - G05D 1/021: {specially adapted to land vehicles} - 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 - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES ## Abstract An autonomous driving control device is capable of starting an autonomous driving control without an operation of a driver and reducing a possibility that the driver can not start manual driving. An autonomous driving control is switched to manual driving when a determination section determines that the amount of operation by the driver is equal to or greater than a first threshold, before a predetermined time elapses since the autonomous driving control is automatically started. An autonomous driving control is switched to a manual driving when the determination section determines that the amount of operation by the driver is equal to or greater than a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold, after the predetermined time elapses. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of using an electronic control unit for controlling an autonomous driving control and a manual driving control, wherein the autonomous driving control is a driving mode which automatically controls the vehicle to travel along a travel plan, wherein the travel plan is a trajectory along which the vehicle is to move on a desired route generated by a navigation system, an obstacle detection unit and a map database, and wherein the manual driving control is the driving mode in which the vehicle travels based primarily on a driving operation by the driver and secondarily on a driving operation assist control that assists the driving operation by the driver, the method comprising: start execution of the autonomous driving control; during execution of the autonomous driving control, detect that an override operation by the driver has occurred for switching from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control; based upon a detection that the override operation has occurred, determine whether a predetermined time period has elapsed since the autonomous driving control started; when the predetermined time period has not elapsed, switch the driving mode from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control if the override operation is equal to or more than a first threshold; when the predetermined time period has elapsed, switch the driving mode from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control if the override operation is equal to or more than a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is less than the second threshold; and when the predetermined time period has elapsed, maintain the autonomous driving control if the override operation is less than the second threshold. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of the using the electronic control unit according to claim 1, further comprising notifying the driver of the start of the autonomous driving control. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of using the electronic control unit according to claim 1, further comprising using a monitoring device to monitor a state of the driver, and changing a duration of the predetermined time period based on the state of the driver monitored by the monitor device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of using the electronic control unit according to claim 1, further comprising notifying the driver that the first threshold is being used before the predetermined time period elapses and that the second threshold is being used after the predetermined time period elapses. ### Claim 5 A vehicle control device for controlling an autonomous driving control and a manual driving control, wherein the autonomous driving control is a driving mode which automatically controls the vehicle to travel along a travel plan, wherein the travel plan is a trajectory along which the vehicle is to move on a desired route generated by a navigation system, an obstacle detection unit and a map database, and wherein the manual driving control is the driving mode in which the vehicle travels based primarily on a driving operation by the driver and secondarily on a driving operation assist control that assists the driving operation by the driver, the vehicle control device comprising: an electronic control unit programmed to: start execution of the autonomous driving control; during execution of the autonomous driving control, detect that an override operation by the driver has occurred for switching from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control; based upon a detection that the override operation has occurred, determine whether a predetermined time period has elapsed since the autonomous driving control started; when the predetermined time period has not elapsed, switch the driving mode from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control if the override operation is equal to or more than a first threshold; when the predetermined time period has elapsed, switch the driving mode from the autonomous driving control to the manual driving control if the override operation is equal to or more than a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is less than the second threshold; and when the predetermined time period has elapsed, maintain the autonomous driving control if the override operation is less than the second threshold. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The vehicle control device according to claim 5, further comprising a notification device that notifies the driver of the start of the autonomous driving control. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The vehicle control device according to claim 5, further comprising a monitoring device to monitor a state of the driver, and wherein the electronic control unit is further programmed to change a duration of the predetermined time period based on the state of the driver monitored by the monitor device. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The vehicle control device according to claim 5, further comprising a notification device that notifies the driver that the first threshold is being used before the predetermined time period elapses and that the second threshold is being used after the predetermined time period elapses.