# US 11,441,910 B2 · Vehicle control apparatus and vehicle control method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,441,910 B2 - Document ID: US11441910B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/073,804 - Filed: 2020-10-19 - Published: 2021-02-04 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2017-01-27 - Assignees: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America - Applicants: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America - Inventors: Kotaro Sakata; Kimio Minami; Tetsuji Fuchikami - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11441910B2 ## CPC - G01C 21/3407: {specially adapted for specific applications} - G01C 21/3685: {the POI's being parking facilities} - 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) - G06Q 10/047: Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem - G08G 1/127: to a central station {; Indicators in a central station} - G08G 1/148: {Management of a network of parking areas} - G08G 1/20: {Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles} - G08G 1/202: {Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching} - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - 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}) ## Abstract When a self-driving vehicle that transfers an object to a predetermined location is left at the predetermined location without the object in the vehicle, a vehicle control apparatus determines a moving destination among a plurality of standby places, based on the current location of the vehicle, the locations of the plurality of standby places, and vehicle-demand prediction information, and instructs the vehicle to move to the determined moving destination. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory storing a computer program, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations including: determining whether or not a self-driving vehicle that transfers an object to a predetermined location is left at the predetermined location without the object in the vehicle based on a state of the vehicle; determining, in response to determining that the vehicle is left at the predetermined location, a moving destination among a plurality of standby places, based on (i) a current location of the vehicle, (ii) locations of the plurality of standby places, and (iii) vehicle-demand prediction information indicating vehicle-demand prediction distribution; and instructing the vehicle to move to the determined moving destination. ### Claim 2 A method performed by a processor, the method comprising: determining whether or not a self-driving vehicle that transfers an object to a predetermined location is left at the predetermined location without the object in the vehicle based on a state of the vehicle; and determining, in response to determining that the vehicle is left at the predetermined location, a moving destination among a plurality of standby places, based on (i) a current location of the vehicle, (ii) locations of the plurality of standby places, and (iii) vehicle-demand prediction information indicating vehicle-demand prediction distribution. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operations further include determining the vehicle-demand prediction information indicating higher demand in a region where rain is falling or a region where rain is expected to fall from now. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein determining whether or not the vehicle is left at the predetermined location includes determining whether a speed of the vehicle reaches zero and the speed of the vehicle continues to be zero for a predetermined time or more. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein determining whether or not the vehicle is left at the predetermined location includes determining whether a door of the vehicle is opened and closed and is locked after the opening and closing. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The method according to claim 2, further comprising determining the vehicle-demand prediction information indicating higher demand in a region where rain is falling or a region where rain is expected to fall from now. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The method according to claim 2, wherein determining whether or not the vehicle is left at the predetermined location includes determining that the vehicle is left at the predetermined location without the object in the vehicle when a speed of the vehicle reaches zero and the speed of the vehicle continues to be zero for a predetermined time or more. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The method according to claim 2, wherein determining whether or not the vehicle is left at the predetermined location includes determining that the vehicle is left at the predetermined location without the object in the vehicle when a door of the vehicle is opened and closed and is locked after the opening and closing.