Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Motor North America, Inc.

Chris Risberg

Katsumi Nagata

Ryan M Wiesenberg

Michael C Edwards

Ayana Takeshita

Yuhei Suzuki

Changyi Luo

Sachin J Ahire

A control apparatus is communicably connected to a vehicle and a user terminal, the control apparatus including a controller configured to: in response to a service request from the user terminal, determine at least a service content, a provision time, and a provision location; identify a vehicle capable of performing the service content; cause the vehicle to perform the service content inside the vehicle by the provision time; and cause the vehicle to move to the provision location by the provision time.

Control apparatus, vehicle, non-transitory computer readable medium, and control method

A server manages operation of a plurality of vehicles that are autonomous and used for transporting a plurality of users. The server includes a server communication interface and a server controller. The server communication interface is configured to be able to transmit/receive information to/from the plurality of vehicles. The server controller is configured to be able to transmit, via the server communication interface, an instruction to couple a first vehicle and a second vehicle which are included in the plurality of vehicles to thereby form a vehicle group which includes the first vehicle and the second vehicle in a coupled state, and control the first vehicle and the second vehicle so that a user in either one vehicle of the first vehicle and the second vehicle can move to another vehicle, and an instruction to release at least part of the coupled state of the vehicle group.

Server, vehicle operation management method, vehicle, and vehicle operation management system

A system for providing notifications based on vehicle passengers includes a main body to transport passengers, an input device located designed to receive user input including passenger information related to the passengers presently in the main body, and a network access device located in or on the main body and designed to communicate with a remote server. The system also includes an output device located in or on the main body and designed to output information, and a memory designed to store data. The system also includes an electronic control unit (ECU) located in or on the main body and designed to control the memory to store the passenger information related to the passengers, and to control at least one of the network access device or the output device to transmit or output, respectively, information related to the passenger information.

Driver-provided vehicle passenger registry

Methods and systems for identifying whether a vehicle is capable of safely traversing a road segment. The system includes a transceiver of the vehicle configured to receive vehicle capability data indicating vehicle specifications associated with the road segment, the vehicle specifications associated with a vehicle capable of traversing the road segment. The system includes an electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle configured to compare vehicle data including features of the vehicle with the vehicle capability data to determine whether the vehicle data meets or exceeds the vehicle specifications. The system includes an input/output device configured to provide a notification that the vehicle is not capable of traversing the road segment when the vehicle data does not meet or exceed the vehicle specifications associated with the road segment.

System and method for identifying vehicles that can handle specific road segments

Methods, systems, and apparatus for a confidence enhancement system. The confidence enhancement system includes a navigation unit configured to obtain navigational map information including a current location of the vehicle. The confidence enhancement system includes a sensor configured to obtain sensor data. The confidence enhancement system includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is coupled to the navigation unit and the sensor. The electronic control unit is configured to determine a confidence score. The confidence score is related to safe operation of the autonomous driving of the vehicle based on the current location of the vehicle and the sensor data. The electronic control unit is configured to determine that the confidence score exceeds a confidence threshold and indicate that autonomous driving is safe at the current location.

Increasing consumer confidence in autonomous vehicles

According to various embodiments of the disclosed technology systems and methods for biometric access control for a vehicle may include: capturing an image of two or more individuals approaching the vehicle; analyzing the captured image to determine whether one or more of the individuals approaching the vehicle is an authorized user of the vehicle; where at least one, but not all, of the two or more individuals approaching the vehicle is identified as an authorized user of the vehicle, analyzing the captured image to determine an emotional level between an identified authorized user of the vehicle and an unauthorized user of the vehicle; and performing a vehicle access security operation based on the determined emotional level between the authorized user of the vehicle and the unauthorized user of the vehicle.

Growing community of inventors

Flower Mound, TX, United States of America

Chris Risberg