# US 11,897,513 B2 · Autonomous vehicle > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,897,513 B2 - Document ID: US11897513B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/239,162 - Filed: 2021-04-23 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Granted: 2024-02-13 - Earliest claimed: 2018-12-07 - Assignees: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Yoshiki Kuranuki; Hokuto Fujii - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11897513B2 ## CPC - B60W 60/00253: {Taxi operations} - B60K 28/02: responsive to conditions relating to the driver - B60W 30/18027: {Drive off, accelerating from standstill} - B60W 30/182: Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes - B60W 60/0013: {specially adapted for occupant comfort} - B60W 60/0016: {of the vehicle or its occupants} - G06V 20/593: {Recognising seat occupancy} - B60N 2/0025: {by using weight measurement} - B60N 2/003: {characterised by the sensor mounting location in or on the seat} - B60N 2210/18: Infrared - B60N 2210/22: Optical; Photoelectric; Lidar [Light Detection and Ranging] - B60W 2300/10: Buses - B60W 2540/049: Number of occupants - B60W 2540/223: Posture, e.g. hand, foot, or seat position, turned or inclined - 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 - B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - B60N: SEATS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES; VEHICLE PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract An autonomous vehicle, including a vehicle body, a wheel supported by the vehicle body, a steering mechanism configured to change a travel direction, a driving/braking force generating device configured to generate a driving force or a braking force to drive or decelerate the autonomous vehicle, a plurality of seats each configured to be sat on by a passenger, and an autonomous driving controller configured to control the steering mechanism and the driving/braking force generating device to autonomously drive the autonomous vehicle without any driver's manipulation. The autonomous driving controller is configured to determine whether or not to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from a stopped state to a run state, based on (1) at least one of a number of passengers, a maximum capacity, or a scheduled number of passengers, and (2) at least one of a number of sitting passengers or a number of ready-state-expressing passengers. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An autonomous vehicle comprising: a vehicle body having a cabin space formed therein, the cabin space being so formed as to inhibit each passenger of the autonomous vehicle from standing upright; a wheel supported by the vehicle body; a steering mechanism supported by the vehicle body, and configured to change a direction of travel of the autonomous vehicle; a driving/braking force generating device supported by the vehicle body, and configured to generate a driving force to drive the autonomous vehicle and a braking force to decelerate the autonomous vehicle; a plurality of seats supported by the vehicle body, and each configured to be sat on by a passenger; and an autonomous driving controller including a processor, and a non-transitory storage medium containing program instructions, execution of the program instructions by the processor causing the autonomous driving controller to control the steering mechanism and the driving/braking force generating device to autonomously drive the autonomous vehicle without any driver's manipulation, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from a stopped state to a run state, based on (1) a number of passengers, and a number of ready-state-expressing passengers, (2) a maximum capacity, and the number of ready-state-expressing passengers, and (3) a scheduled number of passengers, and the number of ready-state-expressing passengers, wherein said number of passengers is a total number of passengers in the autonomous vehicle, said maximum capacity is a total number of the seats in the autonomous vehicle, said scheduled number of passengers is a total number of passengers who are scheduled to be in the autonomous vehicle, and said number of ready-state-expressing passengers is a total number of passengers who are each both seated on one of the plurality of seats, and making a sign of being ready for a change of the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: a non-contact-type detector configured to detect conditions inside the autonomous vehicle in a non-contacting manner and to thereby generate non-contact detection data, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, based on the non-contact detection data generated by the non-contact-type detector. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the non-contact-type detector is an image-capturing device configured to capture an image of an inside of the autonomous vehicle, to thereby generate image data; and the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, based on the image data generated by the image-capturing device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the image of the inside of the autonomous vehicle is at least one of an image of an entrance area of the autonomous vehicle or an image of a passenger in the autonomous vehicle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the number of ready-state-expressing passengers is recognized from the non-contact detection data generated by the non-contact-type detector. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: a contact-type detector configured to detect a passenger contacting an object provided in the autonomous vehicle and to thereby generate contact detection data, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, based on the contact detection data generated by the contact-type detector. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the number of ready-state-expressing passengers is recognized from the contact detection data generated by the contact-type detector. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 6, wherein: the contact-type detector includes a plurality of buttons respectively provided for the plurality of seats; and the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to recognize the number of ready-state-expressing passengers based on the contact detection data generated by the contact-type detector. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: a contact-type detector configured to detect a passenger contacting an object provided in the autonomous vehicle and to thereby generate contact detection data; and a non-contact-type detector configured to detect conditions inside the autonomous vehicle and to thereby generate non-contact detection data, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, based on the contact detection data generated by the contact-type detector and the non-contact detection data generated by the non-contact-type detector. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of seats are so formed as to allow two passengers of the autonomous vehicle, when seated therein, to have face-to-face conversation with each other. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an information-providing device configured to provide information to invite a passenger of the autonomous vehicle to sit down on one of the plurality of seats. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a door, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, further based on whether the door is open or closed. ### Claim 13 An autonomous vehicle comprising: a vehicle body; a wheel supported by the vehicle body; a steering mechanism supported by the vehicle body, and configured to change a direction of travel of the autonomous vehicle; a driving/braking force generating device supported by the vehicle body, and configured to generate a driving force to drive the autonomous vehicle and a braking force to decelerate the autonomous vehicle; a plurality of seats supported by the vehicle body, and each configured to be sat on by a passenger; and an autonomous driving controller including a processor, and a non-transitory storage medium containing program instructions, execution of the program instructions by the processor causing the autonomous driving controller to control the steering mechanism and the driving/braking force generating device to autonomously drive the autonomous vehicle without any driver's manipulation, wherein the autonomous driving controller is configured to determine whether or not to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from a stopped state to a run state, based on a number of passengers and a number of sitting passengers, and on whether the number of passengers and the number of sitting passengers are equal or not, wherein said number of passengers is a total number of passengers in the autonomous vehicle, and said number of sitting passengers is a total number of passengers who are each seated in one of the plurality of seats of the autonomous vehicle. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 13, further comprising: a non-contact-type detector configured to detect conditions inside the autonomous vehicle in a non-contacting manner and to thereby generate non-contact detection data, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, based on the non-contact detection data generated by the non-contact-type detector. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 14, wherein the number of sitting passengers is recognized from the non-contact detection data generated by the non-contact-type detector. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 13, further comprising: a contact-type detector configured to detect a passenger contacting an object provided in the autonomous vehicle and to thereby generate contact detection data, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, based on the contact detection data generated by the contact-type detector. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 16, wherein the number of sitting passengers is recognized from the contact detection data generated by the contact-type detector. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 13, further comprising a door, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, further based on whether the door is open or closed. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The autonomous vehicle according to claim 13, further comprising: a contact-type detector configured to detect a passenger contacting an object provided in the autonomous vehicle and to thereby generate contact detection data; and a non-contact-type detector configured to detect conditions inside the autonomous vehicle and to thereby generate non-contact detection data, wherein the execution of the program instructions by the processor causes the autonomous driving controller to control the driving/braking force generating device to change the autonomous vehicle from the stopped state to the run state, based on the contact detection data generated by the contact-type detector and the non-contact detection data generated by the non-contact-type detector.