# US 12,179,758 B2 · Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, vehicle motion control system, and lane estimation device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,179,758 B2 - Document ID: US12179758B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/642,162 - Filed: 2020-06-04 - Published: 2022-10-06 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2019-09-11 - Assignees: Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. - Applicants: Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. - Inventors: Naoki Takahashi; Taku Takahama - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12179758B2 ## CPC - B60W 30/12: Lane keeping - B62D 15/025: {Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation (B62D1/28 takes precedence)} - B60W 10/20: including control of steering systems - B60W 40/072: Curvature of the road - B60W 40/105: Speed - G06V 10/993: {Evaluation of the quality of the acquired pattern} - G06V 20/58: Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads - G06V 20/588: {Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road} - G08G 1/167: {Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection} - B60W 2420/403: Image sensing, e.g. optical camera - B60W 2520/10: Longitudinal speed - B60W 2520/125: Lateral acceleration - B60W 2520/14: Yaw - B60W 2552/30: Road curve radius - B60W 2552/53: Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk - B60W 2554/80: Spatial relation or speed relative to objects - B60W 2554/802: Longitudinal distance - B60W 2556/20: Data confidence level - B60W 2556/25: Data precision - B60W 2556/50: of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data - B60W 2710/202: Steering torque - 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 - B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M) - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - 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 A vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, a vehicle motion control system, and a lane estimation device according to the present invention obtain first information on lane markings defining a lane in which a vehicle travels based on external information obtained from an external recognition unit, obtain second information on a curvature of the lane based on information on a road shape obtained from a road shape information acquisition unit, obtain third information on a behavior of the vehicle based on a physical quantity that is related to a motion state of the vehicle and obtained from a vehicle motion state detection unit, and estimate lane information including information on curvatures of the lane markings and information on relative positions of the vehicle with respect to the lane markings based on the first information, the second information, and the third information. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle control device comprising: a controller that performs calculations based on input information and outputs calculation results, wherein the controller is configured to obtain first information on lane markings defining a lane in which a vehicle travels based on external information obtained from an external recognition unit, obtain second information on a curvature of the lane based on information on a road shape obtained from a road shape information acquisition unit, obtain third information on a behavior of the vehicle based on a physical quantity that is related to a motion state of the vehicle and obtained from a vehicle motion state detection unit, estimates information on curvatures relative positions of the vehicle with respect to the lane markings based on the first information, the second information, and the third information, and output, based on the lane information, a control command related to a steering action for performing a lane keeping control for the vehicle, wherein the controller obtains reliability degrees according to differences between observed values based on the first information and the second information and estimated values of the observed values obtained based on estimated values of the lane information in a previous sampling and the third information, estimates the lane information by weighting the first information, the second information, and the third information based on the reliability degrees, and is operatively coupled to a display, so that the estimated lane information, which includes the reliability degrees, is presented to a user via the display. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller corrects the reliability degrees according to variations of the observed values. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller corrects the reliability degrees based on information on a relative distance between the vehicle and a leading vehicle that travels in front of the vehicle and is recognized by the external recognition unit. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller corrects the reliability degrees based on a difference between the second information and a travelled path of the vehicle obtained from the third information. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller corrects the reliability degrees based on a speed of the vehicle. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller estimates the lane information using a predetermined constraint. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller estimates the lane information using the constraint that sets a limit on a change amount of the curvature of the lane. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller estimates the lane information using the constraint that sets a limit on a change amount of a lateral position indicating an amount of shift of the vehicle from a center of the lane. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller estimates the lane information using the constraint that sets a limit on a distance between right and left lane markings. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the road shape information acquisition unit is a navigation system. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information on the road shape is information on a shape of a road that includes an outside of the lane markings and on which the vehicle can travel. ### Claim 12 A vehicle control method executed by a vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle comprising steps of: obtaining first information on lane markings defining a lane in which a vehicle travels based on external information obtained from an external recognition unit; obtaining second information on a curvature of the lane based on information on a road shape obtained from a road shape information acquisition unit; obtaining third information on a behavior of the vehicle based on a physical quantity that is related to a motion state of the vehicle and obtained from a vehicle motion state detection unit; estimating information on curvatures and relative positions of the vehicle with respect to the lane markings based on the first information, the second information, and the third information; and outputting, based on the lane information, a control command related to a steering action for performing a lane keeping control for the vehicle, wherein the step of estimating lane information includes: a step of obtaining reliability degrees according to differences between observed values based on the first information and the second information and estimated values of the observed values obtained based on estimated values of the lane information in a previous sampling and the third information, a step of estimating the lane information by weighting the first information, the second information, and the third information based on the reliability degrees, and wherein the controller is operatively coupled to a display, so that the estimated lane information, which includes the reliability degrees, is presented to a user via the display. ### Claim 13 A vehicle motion control system comprising: an external recognition unit that obtains external information of a vehicle; a vehicle motion state detection unit that detects a physical quantity related to a motion state of the vehicle; a road shape information acquisition unit that obtains information on a road shape; a controller that is configured to obtain first information on lane markings defining a lane in which the vehicle travels based on the external information obtained from the external recognition unit, obtain second information on a curvature of the lane based on the information on the road shape obtained from the road shape information acquisition unit, obtain third information on a behavior of the vehicle based on the physical quantity that is related to the motion state of the vehicle and obtained from the vehicle motion state detection unit, estimate lane information on curvatures and relative positions of the vehicle with respect to the lane markings based on the first information, the second information, and the third information, output, based on the lane information, a control command related to a steering action for performing a lane keeping control for the vehicle, obtain reliability degrees according to differences between observed values based on the first information and the second information and estimated values of the observed values obtained based on estimated values of the lane information in a previous sampling and the third information, and estimate the lane information by weighting the first information, the second information, and the third information based on the reliability degrees; and a steering control device of the vehicle that obtains the control command output from the controller, wherein the controller is operatively coupled to a display, so that the estimated lane information, which includes the reliability degrees, is presented to a user via the display. ### Claim 14 A lane estimation device comprising: a controller that performs calculations based on input information and outputs calculation results, wherein the controller is configured to obtain first information on lane markings defining a lane in which a vehicle travels based on external information obtained from an external recognition unit, obtain second information on a curvature of the lane based on information on a road shape obtained from a road shape information acquisition unit, obtain third information on a behavior of the vehicle based on a physical quantity that is related to a motion state of the vehicle and obtained from a vehicle motion state detection unit, and estimate lane information on curvatures and relative positions of the vehicle with respect to the lane markings based on the first information, the second information, and the third information, wherein the controller obtains reliability degrees according to differences between observed values based on the first information and the second information and estimated values of the observed values obtained based on estimated values of the lane information in a previous sampling and the third information, estimates the lane information by weighting the first information, the second information, and the third information based on the reliability degrees, and is operatively coupled to a display, so that the estimated lane information, which includes the reliability degrees, is presented to a user via the display.