# US 8,788,435 B2 · Driving maneuver assisting apparatus and method for assisting driving maneuver > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,788,435 B2 - Document ID: US8788435B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/060,538 - Filed: 2009-06-12 - Published: 2011-06-23 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2008-09-18 - Assignees: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Nobuyuki Kuge; Kazuto Sato; Hirofumi Hashiguchi - Inventors: Nobuyuki Kuge; Kazuto Sato; Hirofumi Hashiguchi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8788435B2 ## CPC - B60W 40/09: Driving style or behaviour - B60W 50/0098: {Details of control systems ensuring comfort, safety or stability not otherwise provided for} - B60W 50/10: Interpretation of driver requests or demands - B60W 50/14: Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention - B60W 2050/0075: {Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means} - B60W 2050/0088: {Adaptive recalibration} - B60W 2050/146: {Display means} - B60W 2520/10: Longitudinal speed - B60W 2540/043: Identity of occupants - B60W 2540/18: Steering angle - B60W 2540/30: Driving style - B60W 2554/801: Lateral distance - B60W 2556/10: Historical data - 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 A driving maneuver assisting apparatus includes a learning section configured to learn a driving-behavior pattern of a driver for a predetermined duration; a non-steady-state degree calculating section configured to calculate a non-steady-state degree by comparing a current driving-behavior pattern with the driving-behavior pattern learned by the learning section, wherein the non-steady-state degree represents how different the current driving-behavior pattern is from the driving-behavior pattern learned by the learning section; a learning level calculating section configured to calculate a learning level of the learning section; and a notifying section configured to notify the driver of a maneuver assisting information for inducing the driving-behavior pattern learned by the learning section in accordance with the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section, when the non-steady-state degree calculated by the non-steady-state degree calculating section exceeds a threshold value. The notifying section is configured to provide contents of the maneuver assisting information in more detail as the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section becomes higher. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A driving maneuver assisting apparatus comprising: a learning section configured to learn a driving-behavior pattern of a driver for a predetermined duration; a non-steady-state degree calculating section configured to calculate a non-steady-state degree by comparing a current driving-behavior pattern with the driving-behavior pattern learned by the learning section, wherein the non-steady-state degree represents how different the current driving-behavior pattern is from the driving-behavior pattern learned by the learning section; a learning level calculating section configured to calculate a learning level of the learning section; and a notifying section configured to notify the driver of maneuver assisting information for inducing the driving-behavior pattern learned by the learning section in accordance with the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section, when the non-steady-state degree calculated by the non-steady-state degree calculating section exceeds a threshold value, wherein the notifying section is configured to provide contents of the maneuver assisting information in more detail as the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section becomes higher, and wherein the learning level calculating section is configured to calculate the learning level of the learning section in accordance with a number of data points already acquired as the driving-behavior pattern of the driver by the learning section. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the learning level calculating section is configured to calculate the learning level of the learning section in accordance with a time elapsed from a time point when the learning section started to acquire a data as the driving-behavior pattern of the driver. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the notifying section is configured to vary the contents of the maneuver assisting information in accordance with the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving maneuver assisting apparatus further comprises a driver determining section configured to determine a current driver of vehicle among at least two persons, wherein the learning level calculating section is configured to calculate the learning level for the current driver determined by the driver determining section, and wherein the notifying section is configured to notify of the maneuver assisting information in accordance with the learning level attained for the current driver determined by the driver determining section. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving maneuver assisting apparatus further comprises a first varying section configured to vary at least one of the threshold value and the non-steady-state degree so as to make it more difficult for the non-steady-state degree to exceed the threshold value as the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section is lower. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first varying section is configured to increase the threshold value as the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section is lower. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first varying section is configured to reduce the non-steady-state degree as the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section is lower. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving maneuver assisting apparatus further comprises: a judging section configured to detect a current running environment around a vehicle and to judge whether or not the detected current running environment differs from a predetermined standard environment; and a second varying section configured to decrease the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section when the judging section determines that the current running environment differs from the predetermined standard environment. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving maneuver assisting apparatus further comprises: a judging section configured to detect a current running environment around a vehicle and to judge whether or not the detected current running environment differs from a predetermined standard environment; and a third varying section configured to vary at least one of the threshold value and the non-steady-state degree so as to make it difficult for the non-steady-state degree to exceed the threshold value, when the judging section determines that the current running environment differs from the predetermined standard environment. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving maneuver assisting apparatus further comprises a judging section configured to detect a current running environment around a vehicle and to judge whether or not the detected current running environment differs from a predetermined standard environment, and wherein the notifying section is configured to suppress the provision of the maneuver assisting information, when the judging section determines that the current running environment differs from the predetermined standard environment. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the judging section is configured to detect a current brightness around the vehicle, and to determine that the current running environment differs from the predetermined standard environment when the detected current brightness is lower than a predetermined standard state. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the judging section is configured to detect a current weather state around the vehicle, and to determine that the current running environment differs from the predetermined standard environment when the detected current weather state is worse than a predetermined standard state. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The driving maneuver assisting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the judging section is configured to detect a current traffic volume around the vehicle, and to determine that the current running environment differs from the predetermined standard environment when the detected current traffic volume is higher than a predetermined standard state. ### Claim 14 A driving maneuver assisting method comprising: learning a driving-behavior pattern of a driver for a predetermined duration, using a learning section; calculating a non-steady-state degree by comparing a current driving-behavior pattern with the learned driving-behavior pattern, wherein the non-steady-state degree represents how different the current driving-behavior pattern is from the learned driving-behavior pattern, using a non-steady-state degree calculating section; calculating a learning level, using a learning level calculating section; notifying the driver of maneuver assisting information for inducing the learned driving-behavior pattern, when the calculated non-steady-state degree exceeds a threshold value, using a notifying section; and wherein the notifying section provides contents of the maneuver assisting information in more detail as the learning level calculated by the learning level calculating section becomes higher, and wherein the learning level calculating section calculates the learning level of the learning section in accordance with a number of data points already acquired as the driving-behavior pattern of the driver by the learning section.