# US 11,897,455 B2 · Autonomous driving system, autonomous driving method, and storage medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,897,455 B2 - Document ID: US11897455B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/808,217 - Filed: 2022-06-22 - Published: 2023-02-23 - Granted: 2024-02-13 - Earliest claimed: 2021-08-19 - Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Satoshi Omi; Takanori Imazu; Yoshiki Fukada; Takashi Hayashi; Yuta Kataoka; Kohki Baba; Ryuji Okamura; Akihiro Kusumoto - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11897455B2 ## CPC - B60W 30/06: Automatic manoeuvring for parking - G08G 1/096725: {where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control} - B60W 40/06: Road conditions - G05D 1/0217: {in accordance with energy consumption, time reduction or distance reduction criteria} - G05D 1/644: Optimisation of travel parameters, e.g. of energy consumption, journey time or distance - G08G 1/144: {on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]} - G08G 1/146: {where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space} - G08G 1/148: {Management of a network of parking areas} - B60W 2555/20: Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain - 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 - 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}) - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES ## Abstract A vehicle is autonomously driven in an environment where a first road for vehicles running in a first direction and a second road for vehicles running in a second direction, different from the first direction, are provided alongside each other, and where a first parking space that is entered from the first road and exited to the first road is set and a second parking space that is entered from the second road and exited to the second road is set. When the vehicle is temporarily parked in the first parking space and a running direction of the vehicle heading for the next destination after being parked is the second direction, the vehicle is transferred from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving after a user of the vehicle gets out of the vehicle. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle autonomous driving system that autonomously drives a vehicle in an environment where a first road for vehicles running in a first direction and a second road for vehicles running in a second direction, different from the first direction, are provided alongside each other, and where a first parking space that is entered from the first road and exited to the first road is set and a second parking space that is entered from the second road and exited to the second road is set, the vehicle autonomous driving system comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires information about a next destination of a vehicle parked in the first parking space; a recognition unit that recognizes, based on the acquired next destination, whether a running direction of the vehicle heading for the next destination is the second direction; and a vehicle transfer control unit that, when it is recognized that the running direction of the vehicle heading for the next destination is the second direction, transfers the vehicle from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving after a user of the vehicle gets out of the vehicle. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein the first road and the second road are formed adjacent to each other, and the first parking space and the second parking space are set on opposite sides from each other across a border between the first road and the second road. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 2, wherein the first parking space is set along the first road and the second parking space is set along the second road. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein, when the vehicle has been transferred from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving, a notification saying that the vehicle has been transferred is sent to a mobile terminal of the user of the vehicle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires information about a time taken for the user of the vehicle to return to the vehicle after the vehicle is parked in the first parking space, and the vehicle transfer control unit transfers the vehicle from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving when it is possible to transfer the vehicle from the first parking space to the second parking space before the user of the vehicle returns to the vehicle. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle transfer control unit transfers the vehicle from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving when a distance from the first parking space to the second parking space is equal to or shorter than a predetermined distance or when a time taken to walk from the first parking space to the second parking space is equal to or shorter than a predetermined time. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires information about an external environment, and the vehicle transfer control unit does not transfer the vehicle from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving when the weather is bad or a road condition is bad. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein a position of the vehicle is displayed on a mobile terminal of the user of the vehicle, or a vehicle body is configured to emit light or sound, when the vehicle receives a request for provision of information about a parking place of the vehicle from the user of the vehicle after the vehicle has been transferred from the first parking space to the second parking space. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 1, wherein, when a first predetermined time has elapsed since the vehicle has been transferred from the first parking space to the second parking space or when a request for provision of information about a parking place of the vehicle is received from the user of the vehicle, the vehicle autonomous driving system inquires of the user of the vehicle whether to transfer the vehicle from the second parking space to the first parking space, and when the user of the vehicle permits the transfer of the vehicle, the vehicle transfer control unit controls the vehicle such that the vehicle is transferred from the second parking space to the first parking space by autonomous driving. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The vehicle autonomous driving system according to claim 9, wherein, when a second predetermined time, longer than the first predetermined time, has elapsed since the vehicle has been transferred from the first parking space to the second parking space, the vehicle autonomous driving system notifies the user of the vehicle that the vehicle is going to be transferred from the second parking space to the first parking space, and the vehicle transfer control unit controls the vehicle such that the vehicle is transferred from the second parking space to the first parking space by autonomous driving. ### Claim 11 A vehicle autonomous driving method that autonomously drives a vehicle in an environment where a first road for vehicles running in a first direction and a second road for vehicles running in a second direction, different from the first direction, are provided alongside each other, and where a first parking space that is entered from the first road and exited to the first road is set and a second parking space that is entered from the second road and exited to the second road is set, the vehicle autonomous driving method comprising: acquiring information about a next destination of a vehicle parked in the first parking space; based on the acquired next destination, recognizing whether a running direction of the vehicle heading for the next destination is the second direction; and when it is recognized that the running direction of the vehicle heading for the next destination is the second direction, transferring the vehicle from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving after a user of the vehicle gets out of the vehicle. ### Claim 12 A non-transitory storage medium storing a program that autonomously drives a vehicle in an environment where a first road for vehicles running in a first direction and a second road for vehicles running in a second direction, different from the first direction, are provided alongside each other, and where a first parking space that is entered from the first road and exited to the first road is set and a second parking space that is entered from the second road and exited to the second road is set, the non-transitory storage medium storing the program causing a computer to function to: acquire information about a next destination of a vehicle parked in the first parking space; based on the acquired next destination, recognize whether a running direction of the vehicle heading for the next destination is the second direction; and when it is recognized that the running direction of the vehicle heading for the next destination is the second direction, transferring the vehicle from the first parking space to the second parking space by autonomous driving after a user of the vehicle gets out of the vehicle.