# US 12,181,306 B2 · Vehicle control device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,181,306 B2 - Document ID: US12181306B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/626,568 - Filed: 2020-07-17 - Published: 2022-08-18 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2019-08-01 - Assignees: Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. - Applicants: Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. - Inventors: Motomune Suzuki; Masashi Seimiya - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12181306B2 ## CPC - G01C 21/3833: {characterised by the source of data} - F02D 45/00: Electrical control not provided for in groups F02D41/00 - F02D43/00 - G01C 21/3407: {specially adapted for specific applications} - G01C 21/3602: {Input other than that of destination using image analysis, e.g. detection of road signs, lanes, buildings, real preceding vehicles using a camera} - G08G 1/16: Anti-collision systems (road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08) - B60W 60/001: {Planning or execution of driving tasks} - 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) - F02D: CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES (vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed B60K31/00; conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function, road vehicle drive control systems for purposes other than the control of a single sub-unit B60W) - 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}) - 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 ## Abstract An object is to reduce the data size of surrounding environment information to be stored. A vehicle control device that includes a processor, a first storage unit, and a second storage unit, and stores route information to a target point, the vehicle control device including: an input device that acquires route information of a vehicle and surrounding environment information around the vehicle; and a short-term storage information processing unit that stores the route information and the surrounding environment information acquired while the vehicle is traveling into the first storage unit as short-term storage information, in which the short-term storage information processing unit calculates a feature degree of the surrounding environment information when storing the route information, and temporarily stores the surrounding environment information in which the feature degree is equal to or greater than a predetermined value into the first storage unit as the short-term storage information. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle control device that includes a processor, a storage device including a first storage, and a second storage, and stores a route information for a route of a vehicle to a target point, the vehicle control device comprising: an input device that acquires the route information of the vehicle and a surrounding environment information around the vehicle, the surrounding environment information comprising an object information and a road surface information around the route of the vehicle; a short-term storage information circuit that stores the route information and the surrounding environment information acquired while the vehicle is traveling into the first storage as short-term storage information; a long-term storage information circuit that decides long-term storage information to be stored into the second storage from among the short-term storage information stored in the first storage unit and stores the long-term storage information into the second storage, the decision based upon a calculation by the long-term storage information circuit of a guidance route for automatic drive or automatic parking from the route information and the surrounding environment information; and a vehicle control circuit that generates guidance route information from the long-term storage information stored in the second storage and controls the vehicle based on the guidance route information, wherein the short-term storage information circuit calculates a feature degree of the surrounding environment information when storing the route information, the calculated feature degree based upon indices of the object information, the indices of the object information comprising an invariance indicating a probability of an identified object existing at a time of a next travel of the vehicle, and extracts and temporarily stores a portion of the surrounding environment information in which the feature degree is equal to or greater than a predetermined value into the first storage as the short-term storage information, and wherein a data size of the surrounding environment information to be stored in the short-term storage is reduced based upon the predetermined value of the feature degree of the surrounding environment information. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the short-term storage information circuit sets, as the short-term storage information, a position of the vehicle included in the route information, a relative positional relationship of the surrounding environment information, and the feature degree of the surrounding environment information. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the short-term storage information circuit sets, as the short-term storage information, a position of the vehicle included in the route information, a relative positional relationship of a plurality of pieces of the surrounding environment information, and the feature degree of the surrounding environment information. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the input device performs a travel state acquisition function that acquires a travel state of the vehicle, and the short-term storage information circuit sets the predetermined value lower in the travel state than in straight travel when the travel state is turning. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The vehicle control device according to claim 4, wherein the short-term storage information circuit sets the predetermined value low if the route information is within a predetermined distance from the target point. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The vehicle control device according to claim 5, wherein the short-term storage information circuit sets the predetermined value lower than a predetermined value in the turning if the route information is within a predetermined distance from the target point. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the indices of the object information further comprise a color or a shape of the object, the color or the shape associated to an ability of the input device to acquire the object information of the vehicle.