# US 2018/0022350 A1 · Adaptive vehicle control systems and methods of altering a condition of a vehicle using the same > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0022350 A1 - Document ID: US20180022350A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/218,859 - Filed: 2016-07-25 - Published: 2018-01-25 - Earliest claimed: 2016-07-25 - Assignees: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. - Applicants: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. - Inventors: John-Michael McNew - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180022350A1 ## CPC - B60W 30/16: Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle - B60W 30/14: {Adaptive} cruise control - B60W 30/182: Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes - B60W 40/09: Driving style or behaviour - B60W 50/082: {Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling} - B60W 60/001: {Planning or execution of driving tasks} - G08G 1/163: {involving continuous checking} - 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 2420/408: Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar - B60W 2420/50: Magnetic or electromagnetic sensors - B60W 2420/54: Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound - B60W 2420/60: Doppler effect - B60W 2540/30: Driving style - B60W 2552/05: Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads - B60W 2552/53: Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk - B60W 2554/4029: Pedestrians - B60W 2554/406: Traffic density - B60W 2554/80: Spatial relation or speed relative to objects - B60W 2554/801: Lateral distance - B60W 2554/802: Longitudinal distance - B60W 2554/804: Relative longitudinal speed - B60W 2555/20: Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain - B60W 2556/10: Historical data - B60W 2556/65: Data transmitted between vehicles - B60W 2720/106: Longitudinal acceleration - B60W 2754/30: Longitudinal distance - 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}) ## Abstract An adaptive vehicle control system that includes processors, memory modules communicatively coupled to the processors, and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that cause the adaptive vehicle control system to determine an autonomous operation profile of a target vehicle positioned in a vehicle operating environment, wherein the vehicle operating environment includes a roadway having one or more lanes, determine an autonomous operation profile of one of more neighboring vehicles positioned within the vehicle operating environment, compare the autonomous operation profile of at least one of the one or more neighboring vehicles with the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle, and alter a condition of the target vehicle such that the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle matches an autonomous operation profile of an individual neighboring vehicle of the one or more neighboring vehicles positioned in the same lane as the target vehicle. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An adaptive vehicle control system comprising: one or more processors; one or more memory modules communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that cause the adaptive vehicle control system to perform at least the following when executed by the one or more processors: determine an autonomous operation profile of a target vehicle positioned in a vehicle operating environment, wherein the vehicle operating environment comprises a roadway having one or more lanes; determine an autonomous operation profile of one of more neighboring vehicles positioned within the vehicle operating environment; compare the autonomous operation profile of at least one of the one or more neighboring vehicles with the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle; and alter a condition of the target vehicle such that the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle matches an autonomous operation profile of an individual neighboring vehicle of the one or more neighboring vehicles positioned in the same lane as the target vehicle. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein: the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises one or more vehicle control settings for an automated drive controller of the target vehicle; and the one or more vehicle control settings of the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle control an acceleration control signal, a deceleration control signal, or both, that, when output by the automated drive controller of the target vehicle and received by a vehicle control system of the target vehicle, control an acceleration rate of the target vehicle, a deceleration rate of the target vehicle, or both. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 2, wherein a magnitude of the acceleration rate of the target vehicle is different than a magnitude of the deceleration rate of the target vehicle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 2, wherein: the autonomous operation profile comprises one of an aggressive autonomous operation profile, a normal autonomous operation profile, and a relaxed autonomous operation profile; and a magnitude of the acceleration rate, the deceleration rate, or both, of the target vehicle based on the normal autonomous operation profile is less than a magnitude of the acceleration rate, the deceleration rate, or both, of the target vehicle based on the aggressive autonomous operation profile and is greater than a magnitude of the acceleration rate, the deceleration rate, or both, of the target vehicle based on the relaxed autonomous operation profile. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises a first autonomous operation profile corresponding with a weekend date and a second autonomous operation profile with a weekday date. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises a first autonomous operation profile corresponding with a first vehicle operating environment and a second autonomous operation profile corresponding with a second vehicle operating environment. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein: the target vehicle is positioned in a first lane; the individual neighboring vehicle is positioned in the first lane; and altering the condition of the target vehicle comprises altering the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle to match the autonomous operation profile of the individual neighboring vehicle positioned in the first lane. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein: the target vehicle is positioned in a first lane; the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises a first autonomous operation profile; the individual neighboring vehicle is positioned in a second lane; the autonomous operation profile of the individual neighboring vehicle comprises the first autonomous operation profile; and altering the condition of the target vehicle comprises providing a vehicle control signal to a vehicle control system of the target vehicle such that the target vehicle moves from the first lane to the second lane. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the target vehicle and the individual neighboring vehicle each comprise direct communications hardware. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules further cause the adaptive vehicle control system to perform at least the following when executed by the one or more processors: determine the autonomous operation profile of the individual neighboring vehicle based on a signal output by the direct communications hardware of individual neighboring vehicle and received by the direct communications hardware of the target vehicle. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, further comprising one or more proximity sensors communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules further cause the adaptive vehicle control system to perform at least the following when executed by the one or more processors: determine a distance between the target vehicle and at least one of the one or more neighboring vehicles. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The adaptive vehicle control system of claim 1, further comprising one or more proximity sensors communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules further cause the adaptive vehicle control system to perform at least the following when executed by the one or more processors: determine the autonomous operation profile of the one of more neighboring vehicles positioned within the vehicle operating environment based on sensor data measured by the one or more proximity sensors, wherein the sensor data includes relative acceleration between the target vehicle and the one or more neighboring vehicles. ### Claim 13 A method of altering a condition of a target vehicle comprising an autonomous operation profile, the method comprising: determining an autonomous operation profile of a neighboring vehicle positioned within a vehicle operating environment, wherein: the vehicle operating environment comprises a roadway having one or more lanes; the target vehicle is positioned in a first lane of the one or more lanes; and the neighboring vehicle is positioned in the first lane of the one or more lanes; comparing the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle with the autonomous operation profile of the neighboring vehicle; and altering the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle to match the autonomous operation profile of the neighboring vehicle. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the neighboring vehicle is positioned ahead of the target vehicle in a vehicle forward direction. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising providing a control signal to a vehicle control system of the target vehicle, using an automated drive controller, such that the target vehicle maintains a separation distance between the target vehicle and the neighboring vehicle. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13 wherein: the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises one or more vehicle control settings for an automated drive controller of the target vehicle; and the one or more vehicle control settings of the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle control an acceleration control signal, a deceleration control signal, or both, that, when output by the automated drive controller of the target vehicle and received by a vehicle control system of the target vehicle, control an acceleration rate of the target vehicle, a deceleration rate of the target vehicle, or both. ### Claim 17 A method of altering a condition of a target vehicle comprising an autonomous operation profile, the method comprising: determining an autonomous operation profile of a first neighboring vehicle and an autonomous operation profile of a second neighboring vehicle; wherein: the target vehicle, the first neighboring vehicle, and the second neighboring vehicle are each positioned in a vehicle operating environment comprising a roadway having one or more lanes; the target vehicle is positioned in a first lane of the one or more lanes; the first neighboring vehicle is positioned in the first lane of the one or more lanes; and the second neighboring vehicle is positioned in a second lane of the one or more lanes; comparing the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle with the autonomous operation profiles of the first neighboring vehicle and the second neighboring vehicle; and providing a control signal to a vehicle control system of the target vehicle, using an automated drive controller, such that the target vehicle moves from the first lane to the second lane when the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle matches the autonomous operation profile of the second neighboring vehicle and is different than the autonomous operation profile of the first neighboring vehicle. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the second neighboring vehicle is positioned ahead of the target vehicle in a vehicle forward direction. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, further comprising providing a control signal to the vehicle control system of the target vehicle, using the automated drive controller, such that the target vehicle maintains a separation distance between the target vehicle and the second neighboring vehicle. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein: the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle comprises one or more vehicle control settings for the automated drive controller of the target vehicle; and the one or more vehicle control settings of the autonomous operation profile of the target vehicle control an acceleration control signal, a deceleration control signal, or both, that, when output by the automated drive controller of the target vehicle and received by the vehicle control system of the target vehicle, control an acceleration rate of the target vehicle, a deceleration rate of the target vehicle, or both.