Nissan Motor Company Limited

Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Renault S.a.s.

Tsuyoshi Sakuma

Takayuki Kondoh

Machiko Hiramatsu

Motonobu Aoki

Yutaka Matsumoto

Yuka Saito

Daisuke Masui

Jun Sugihara

Hideaki Matsui

Hajime Kubota

Toshio Kitazawa

Hiroya Uruta

Nobuhiro Shindo

Nobuyuki Iwata

Osamu Shimoyama

A vehicle control method executed by a processor capable of making a subject vehicle change a lane includes: acquiring surrounding information of the subject vehicle by a sensor provided in the subject vehicle; determining whether a distractive factor for a driver of another vehicle is present when the subject vehicle enters the front of the other vehicle traveling on the second lane for changing lanes from a first lane to a second lane adjacent to the first lane; setting a lane change time required for the subject vehicle to change lanes longer than when determining none of the distractive factor to be present when determining distractive the factor to be present; and controlling a traveling position of the subject vehicle on the first lane within the lane change time.

Vehicle control method and vehicle control device

A vehicle control method as executed includes acquiring surrounding information of the subject vehicle by a sensor includes, specifying an entry position located on a second lane adjacent to a first lane where the subject vehicle travels in accordance with the surrounding information of the subject vehicle, specifying a front vehicle located front the entry position and a rear vehicle located rear the entry position, determining the travel state of each of the front vehicle and the rear vehicle, determining whether there is a space for the subject vehicle to enter at the entry position, predicting whether the front vehicle starts to travel when the front vehicle and the rear vehicle are determined to be stopped and no space is determined at the entry position, and starting to move the subject vehicle to the entry position when the front vehicle is predicted to start traveling.

A vehicle control method for executing a lane change of a subject vehicle includes acquiring surrounding information of the subject vehicle; specifying an entry position indicating a position of an entry destination of the subject vehicle, the entry position being located on a second lane adjacent to a first lane in which the subject vehicle is traveling; when operating a blinker, decelerating the subject vehicle, and executing a lane change; determining that there is a following vehicle which follows the subject vehicle in a predetermined area located behind the subject vehicle on a first lane; setting a preparation time longer than the preparation time when determining that there is not the following vehicle, the preparation time indicating a time from operating the blinker to decelerating the subject vehicle and starting the lane change; and controlling a travel position of the subject vehicle on the first lane within the preparation time.

A vehicle operation device is used in an autonomous vehicle autonomously controlled to drive along a determined driving route, and includes: a destination setting circuit configured to set a destination to a wide area for determining the driving route; a route setting circuit configured to allot a provisional destination on the boundary of the area of the destination according to route search conditions including a current position and the destination, so as to determine the driving route passing through the provisional destination; and a presenting circuit configured to provide a user with a task indicated by an item operated by the user while the autonomous vehicle is moving along the driving route toward the provisional destination, so that the task is executed in the area of the destination after reaching the provisional destination.

Vehicle operation device and method

An image forming apparatus capable of both normal printing and special-purpose printing includes a first identification unit, a second identification unit, and a selection unit. The first identification unit identifies a type of print data. The second identification unit identifies a type of print material. The selection unit selects a print resource in accordance with a combination of the type of print data identified by the first identification unit and the type of print material identified by the second identification unit. The selection unit selects the print resource so as to prevent unauthorized printing from being performed when the print data is for special-purpose printing.

Image forming apparatus, print control method, and computer-readable storage medium storing program code for executing the control method

A steering mechanism control system is provided with a steering angle ratio varying device, a steering angle determining section, a steering state determining section, a steering reaction force control device and a characteristic setting section. The steering angle ratio varying device controls a ratio of a steered angle of a steerable wheel with respect to a steering input angle in accordance with a steering angle characteristic. The steering angle determining section determines the steering input angle resulting from a steering operation. The steering state determining section determines a steering state based on the steering input angle. The steering reaction force control device controls a steering reaction force in accordance with a reaction force characteristic. The characteristic setting section selectively sets the steering angle characteristic and the reaction force characteristic based on the steering state determined by the steering state determining section.

Steering mechanism control system

A printing control system includes a host interface, a user interface, a printing unit, and a controller. The host interface communicates with a host device that submits a print job. The user interface communicates with a user. The printing unit executes the print job. The controller suspends operation at the printing unit in response to a suspend request received at one of the host interface and user interface. The controller measures an elapsed time since the suspension, and transmits one of first and second commands upon determining that the elapsed time exceeds a given reference time. The first command causes the printing unit to automatically resume the suspended operation. The second command causes the host interface to send a notification of the suspension.

Printing control system with suspend modes and method thereof

An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit configured to form an image onto an image forming medium based on received print data by using a cartridge removably provided, a cartridge determination unit configured to determine whether an MICR cartridge is inserted as the cartridge, a determination unit configured to compare a password input by an password input unit and a password registered in a password storage unit and determine whether an image forming process of the received print data is allowed to be performed, and a control unit configured to temporarily stop processing the print data, cause the notification unit to send the notification to input the password, and perform an MICR image forming control process that causes the image forming unit to resume the processing of the print data.

Image forming apparatus for performing an MICR printing operation

A driving skill judging apparatus for a vehicle includes: a steering angle detecting section configured to detect a steering angle of the vehicle; a high order function calculating section configured to calculate a high order function of a third order or more, and which is for approximating a transition state of the steering angle based on the steering angle detected by the steering angle detecting section; and a skill judging section configured to judge a driving skill based on a comparative result between a transition state of the steering angle detected by the steering angle detecting section and the high order function calculated by the high order function calculating section.

Driving skill judging apparatus, variable steering apparatus, vehicle and driving skill judging method

A speed change device has an input member rotatable in opposite directions to transmit higher torque as its rotation angle becomes larger, and a variable angle-ratio change mechanism including rollers and teethed wheels that are arranged in parallel to each other. The rollers and teethed wheels are respectively connected to rotate together with each other. The teeth of the wheels have a clearance on a pitch circle between their adjacent teeth so that the clearance is larger than a slip amount of the rollers in a low torque range where the rollers transmit low torque with bypassing the wheels in a normal operation. The wheels are engaged with each other to transmit high torque in a high torque range where the high torque is applied in an exceptional operation and the rollers slip larger than the slip amount in the low torque range.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Tsuyoshi Sakuma