Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America

Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property

Naoyuki Harada

Shuhei Matsui

Hideo Umetani

Takuya Yamaguchi

Masahiko Saito

Yohei Nakata

Kazuma Takeuchi

Toshio Yamanaka

Hideaki Kadowaki

Yoshiya Kinoshita

Kensuke Wakasugi

Takamitsu Sasaki

Koichi Kusukame

Tatsuo Itoh

Aki Yoneda

Hiroaki Urabe

Masataka Hikota

Iku Ohama

Yohei Kawaguchi

Hirokazu Kawamoto

Ryuzo Hori

An information processing method for use in a computer includes: acquiring a charging state and a deterioration state of a battery; determining an upper limit of the charging state of the battery based on the deterioration state; determining a charging plan of the battery based on the upper limit of the charging state determined and the charging state; and outputting the charging plan determined.

Information processing method and information processing system

An authentication method includes: receiving, from a terminal of a user, a user ID for identifying the user and a target vehicle ID for identifying a target vehicle that the user tries to authenticate; determining whether the target vehicle ID matches a reserved vehicle ID for identifying a reserved vehicle whose dispatch has been reserved by the user; in a case where the target vehicle ID matches the reserved vehicle ID, transmitting, to the target vehicle, an unlocking instruction to unlock a door of the target vehicle and causing the terminal to present a message indicating that the user is allowed to get on the target vehicle; and in a case where the target vehicle ID does not match the reserved vehicle ID, causing the terminal to present a message indicating that the target vehicle is not the reserved vehicle of the user.

Authentication method for authenticating that target vehicle is vehicle of which dispatch has been reserved in dispatch system, storage medium, server, and dispatch system

An information processing method includes: acquiring, from one or more first vehicles, manual driving information for each of the first vehicles; acquiring, from one or more second vehicles, automatic driving information for each of the second vehicles; calculating, for each area, a first value of a driving parameter correlated with a degree of difficulty in driving according to the manual driving information; calculating, for the each area, a second value of the driving parameter according to the automatic driving information; comparing the first value with the second value for the each area to determine at least one difficult area in which travel of a vehicle by automatic driving is difficult; and creating difficult area information.

Information processing method for determining difficult area in which travel of vehicle by automatic driving is difficult, information processing apparatus, system, and storage medium

A vehicle authentication method, a recording medium storing a program, a terminal device, and a vehicle authentication system which may raise security level on vehicle authentication by a user are provided. In the vehicle authentication method, the terminal device acquires a vehicle authenticator for authentication of a reserved vehicle, sends a reference vehicle a request for a vehicle authenticator for authentication of the reference vehicle, and determines whether the vehicle authenticators of the reference vehicle and the reserved vehicle coincide. Then a message that the reference vehicle is the reserved vehicle is displayed on the display unit upon determination that the vehicle authenticators of the reference vehicle and the reserved vehicle coincide. And a message that the reference vehicle is not the reserved vehicle is displayed on the display unit upon determination that the vehicle authenticators of the reference vehicle and the reserved vehicle do not coincide.

Vehicle authentication method, recording medium storing program, terminal device, and vehicle authentication system

An apparatus is mounted on a vehicle that is autonomously driven and that is used for passenger transportation. The apparatus includes: a processor; and a memory storing thereon a computer program. When executed by the processor, the program causes the processor to perform operations including: selecting a target person who is at least one of humans who are present around the vehicle and are detected using sensing information about surroundings of the vehicle; acquiring a first state indicating a state of the selected target person; acquiring a second state indicating a state of the vehicle changing a speed setting of the vehicle in accordance with the first state and the second state; and controlling traveling of the vehicle at a speed indicated by the speed setting.

Vehicle control apparatus, vehicle control method, and recording medium

An autonomous driving vehicle includes a main vehicle part, a processor, and a memory storing thereon a computer program, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations. The operations include detecting a gesture made, to try to stop the main vehicle part, by a person present near a road on which the main vehicle part is running, determining whether there is a passenger in the main vehicle part, and controlling autonomous driving of the main vehicle part. In a case where it is determined that there is no passenger in the main vehicle part, when a person making the gesture is detected, the controlling controls the main vehicle part to stop near the person.

Autonomous driving vehicle, method of stopping autonomous driving vehicle, and recording medium

An information processing method enhancing running efficiency of a passenger transportation vehicle is provided. The information processing method includes acquiring first stop position information indicating a first desired stop position of a first user riding a vehicle and tolerable range information indicating a gap range from the first desired stop position, which the first user tolerates, acquiring second stop position information indicating a second desired stop position of a second user riding the vehicle, deciding the second route based on the first stop position information, tolerable range information, and second stop position information, transmitting an inquiry of whether the second route is approved to an apparatus controlled by the first user, or assigning a benefit or the cost to the first user in a case of receiving a response indicating that the second route is approved or not approved from the apparatus.

Information processing method, information processing system, and recording medium storing program

A mapping method includes: acquiring first map information created in advance, including information about a surrounding area of a mobile robot; acquiring second map information including information about the surrounding area by a sensor of the mobile robot; receiving third map information including information about the surrounding area from an environmental sensor node; (i) in the third map information, if a place exists in which an amount of change over time is equal to or greater than a certain threshold value, removing information about the place in each of the first and the second map information corresponding to that place, or alternatively, increasing the variance of information about the place in each of the first and the second map information corresponding to that place; and (ii) creating map information using the first and the second map information subjected to the removal or the variance increase.

Mapping method, localization method, robot system, and robot

A method includes, with a sensor mounted on a vehicle, measuring information of an infrastructure used by the vehicle, and first drive assisting information that is used to perform a drive assisting operation of the vehicle, transmitting the information of the infrastructure to an infrastructure inspection apparatus mounted in the infrastructure when the sensor measures the information of the infrastructure, receiving, from the infrastructure inspection apparatus, second drive assisting information that is used to perform the drive assisting operation of the vehicle, performing the drive assisting operation of the vehicle in response to the first drive assisting information if the sensor measures the first drive assisting information, and performing the drive assisting operation of the vehicle in response to the second drive assisting information if the sensor measures the information of the infrastructure.

Vehicle and measurement method

A laundry washing machine includes a wash tub that allows laundry and water to be loaded therein, a holding unit that separates some of the water in the wash tub and holds the some of the water, where the water contains a substance that was attached to the laundry and that is dissolved therein, a detection unit that detects a predetermined substance contained in the some of the water held by the holding unit and outputs information indicating a result of detection, and a laundry detergent dispenser that dispenses a laundry detergent into the wash tub or instructs a user to add the laundry detergent to the wash tub after the some of the water is separated.

Laundry washing machine and method for detecting attached substance

An aspect of the present disclosure relates to an autonomous moving machine which may maintain the self-location with high reliability. Operations of the moving machine include acquiring sensor information about the self-location, estimating the self-location based on the sensor information, calculating the reliability of the estimated self-location, recording the reliability in association with the estimated self-location. When the reliability satisfies a given condition, the operations include moving the moving machine to a position at which the reliability is high, based on the reliability.

Autonomous moving machine

An autonomous moving machine system continuously maintaining moving machines thereof at higher reliability is provided. Each moving machine measures a self-location thereof with a sensor thereof, and autonomously moves to a target location by controlling a mover. Operations of the moving machine includes acquiring sensor information, estimating the self-location in accordance with the sensor information, calculating the reliability of the self-location, transmitting the reliability to the other moving machine. Operations of a particular moving machine further includes recording history information that associates the reliability, the self-location, and an identifier identifying each of the moving machines, selecting a moving machine to restore the reliability in accordance with the history information and moving the selected moving machine to a location where the reliability of the selected moving machine increases.

Autonomous moving machine system

An inspection method includes, with a sensor mounted in an infrastructure, measuring drive assisting information that is to be used to perform a drive assisting operation of a target vehicle that uses the infrastructure, transmitting the drive assisting information to the target vehicle, receiving, from the target vehicle, information of the infrastructure measured by the target vehicle, and inspecting the infrastructure using the information of the infrastructure.

Infrastructure inspection apparatus, infrastructure inspection method, and infrastructure inspection system

There is provided a map production method to be performed by a mobile robot which moves in a first region and includes a first sensor and a second sensor. The map production method includes acquiring first information from the first sensor, acquiring second information from the second sensor, acquiring third information from a third sensor provided in the first region, acquiring fourth information indicating a detection region of the second sensor calculated from the first information and the second information, acquiring fifth information indicating a detection region of the third sensor calculated from the third information, and updating map information of the first region for a third region, including a first object, if a the second region overlaps with the third region is judged to be present from the fourth information and the fifth information.

Map production method, mobile robot, and map production system

Time information indicating a necessary amount of time for a room temperature to reach a set temperature, and charges information indicating electricity charges corresponding to an amount of electric power consumed that is necessary for the room temperature to reach the set temperature, are displayed correlated with each of a plurality of running buttons corresponding to each of a plurality of operating modes.

Control method of terminal device in air conditioning control system with selectable operating mode according to time and charges, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program

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Osaka, Japan

Naoyuki Harada