Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Yasuo Uehara

Danil V Prokhorov

Nobuhide Kamata

Shunsuke Tanimori

Nozomu Hatta

Umesh N Gandhi

Masahiko Ishii

Minjuan Zhang

Benjamin Alan Grayson

Debasish Benerjee

Paul Donald Schmalenberg

Taewoo Nam

A travel control device is configured to make an autonomous driving vehicle travel in such a way that the autonomous driving vehicle arrives at a specified position specified by a user who intends to board the autonomous driving vehicle, when the autonomous driving vehicle has reached a predetermined range from the specified position, transmit an information sending request notifying the user terminal that the autonomous driving vehicle has reached a vicinity of the specified position and requesting sending of position identifying information for identifying a position at which the user intends to board the autonomous driving vehicle to the user terminal via a communication circuit, and when receiving the position identifying information via the communication circuit, change a position of the autonomous driving vehicle, based on the position identifying information in such a way that the autonomous driving vehicle comes close to the user.

Travel control device and travel control method

A dispatch device includes an information acquisition unit that acquires, for each of a plurality of vehicles, location information indicating a location of the vehicle and loaded object information indicating a status of an object of transportation loaded on the vehicle and a vehicle dispatching unit that dispatches an unfilled vehicle that can carry an object of transportation so that a predetermined number or higher number of unfilled vehicles, are present around an operating vehicle that is carrying an object of transportation.

Dispatch device and dispatching method

A frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LIDAR can be configured to reduce re-reflection and cross-coupling in the FMCW LIDAR. A first laser can be configured to generate a ranging signal, and a second laser can be configured to generate a local oscillator signal. A feedback control can be configured to maintain an offset between the ranging signal and the local oscillator signal. The offset can be a non-zero value. A transmit portion configured to emit a reference laser signal based on the ranging signal into an environment. A receiver portion can be configured to receive a return laser signal from the environment. The return laser signal can be a reflected version of the reference laser signal. A receiver photodetector can be configured to combine the return laser signal and the local oscillator signal.

Frequency modulated continuous wave LIDAR with locked dual lasers

The control device of a vehicle configured to: control a door lock mechanism locking a door of the vehicle; make the vehicle stop when the vehicle is in a specific abnormal state; and determine if it is safe for a user of the vehicle to get off the vehicle from each door of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped when the vehicle is in the specific abnormal state, wherein the control device controls the door lock mechanism such that a door is maintained in a locked state while the vehicle is being driven and while the vehicle is stopped when the vehicle is not in the specific abnormal state, unlocks the door determined to be safe to get off by the door lock mechanism, and does not unlock the door determined to not be safe to get off when the vehicle is stopped when entering the specific abnormal state.

Control device, a control method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a control program of a door lock of a vehicle

A remote control system able to remotely control an autonomously driving vehicle, comprises a communication device able to communicate with the vehicle, an input device to be operated by an operator for intervening in control of the vehicle, a margin calculating part configured to calculate an operator intervention margin showing a possibility of an operator being able to intervene in control of the vehicle, and an instructing part configured to send the vehicle instructions relating to control of the vehicle through the communication device. The instructing part is configured to send the vehicle instructions from the operator when the input device is operated by the operator and send the vehicle an instruction for changing a driving plan of the vehicle when the operator intervention margin is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

Remote control system and self-driving system

A control part of a traffic control apparatus preparing scheduled driving routes of a plurality of vehicles based on current positions and destinations of the plurality of vehicles received through a communicating part or receiving scheduled driving routes of the plurality of vehicles through the communicating part, judging if, among the plurality of vehicles, there are two or more close vehicles with projected times of driving or projected times of arrival in an area in which the scheduled driving routes overlap becoming the same time frame, and, when there are close vehicles, determining the driving/stopping priorities of the close vehicles in the area based on information relating to the passengers picked up in the respective close vehicles.

Traffic control apparatus, traffic control system, traffic control method, and non-transitory computer recording medium

A control part of a traffic control apparatus receives from a car-mounted device of one vehicle among a plurality of vehicles through a communicating part a projected time of arrival of that one vehicle at a destination and, if so, judges if there is a simultaneously arriving vehicle with the same desired drop-off position at the destination as the one vehicle and with the projected time of arrival at the destination in the same time frame from among the plurality of vehicles and, if there is a simultaneously arriving vehicle, determines vehicle stopping priorities at the desired drop-off position between the one vehicle and the simultaneously arriving vehicle based on information relating to the passengers in the one vehicle and the simultaneously arriving vehicle to be dropped off at the destination.

The vehicle allocation apparatus includes a vehicle assignment unit that assigns a self-driving vehicle to a vehicle dispatch request including ride location information indicating a ride location of a prospective passenger wishing for dispatch of the self-driving vehicle, a travel instruction unit that instructs, through a communication unit, the assigned self-driving vehicle to move via the ride location, and a ride confirmation unit that acquires, from the assigned self-driving vehicle, ride information indicating whether the prospective passenger has ridden in the assigned self-driving vehicle after arrival of the assigned self-driving vehicle at the ride location. Before a predetermined vehicle re-allocation grace time passes after receiving the ride information indicating that the prospective passenger has not ridden in the assigned self-driving vehicle, the vehicle assignment unit assigns a self-driving vehicle other than the assigned self-driving vehicle to a vehicle dispatch request from other than the prospective passenger.

Vehicle allocation apparatus and vehicle allocation method

A luggage lock device includes: a plurality of luggage lock mechanisms able to store luggage of a user of a vehicle so that when locked, the luggage is restricted from being taken out; and a luggage lock control device connected to the plurality of luggage lock mechanisms. The luggage lock control device is configured to: control the plurality of luggage lock mechanisms; acquire a destination of a user; and recognize a user who stowed luggage in the luggage lock mechanism and the luggage lock mechanism in which the user stowed the luggage, and wherein the luggage lock control device is configured to unlock a luggage lock mechanism storing luggage of the user arriving at the destination when the vehicle reaches the destination of the user.

Luggage lock device

System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to improving observations of a surrounding environment using a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) device in the presence of highly reflective surfaces. In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to determining that a first point cloud includes an observation of an obscuring object that is highly reflective: i) emitting a scanning light beam at a scanning intensity that is different from an initial intensity of an initial light beam used to acquire the first point cloud, and ii) dynamically controlling the LiDAR device to acquire a second point cloud that omits the obscuring object. The method includes generating a composite point cloud from the first point cloud and the second point cloud that improves an observation of the surrounding environment using the LiDAR device by mitigating interference from the obscuring object.

Systems and methods for mitigating effects of high-reflectivity objects in LiDAR data

A dual-mode vehicle, wheels for the vehicle, and a method of transitioning the vehicle from a land mode to a flight mode. In the land mode, the method includes rotating a pair of spaced wheel arms about a central pivot to lower a body of the dual-mode vehicle to a ground surface. Each wheel arm extends from the central pivot to a wheel. The method also includes rotating the central pivot about a longitudinal vehicle axis to raise the wheel arms and the wheels above the ground surface. After raising the wheel arms and wheels above the ground surface, the method includes rotating the wheel arms about the central pivot to position the wheels for use as rotors in the flight mode. In the flight mode, the method includes rotating the wheels in order to extract rotor blades positioned within the wheels to extend beyond the wheels.

Dual-mode vehicle with wheel rotors

System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to improving detection of objects in a surrounding environment. In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to emitting a signal pulse, acquiring point cloud data about the surrounding environment as identified from the signal pulse reflecting from the surrounding environment. The method further includes determining which data points within the point cloud data are edge points by distinguishing the edge points from field points in the point cloud data according to edge characteristics. The method includes identifying an object in the surrounding environment according to a segment of the point cloud data that is bound by the edge points.

System and method for object detection using edge characteristics

In a method involving the recognition of ambiguous objects from samples of 3D points, an initial constant is set for properties of prospective points of an object, and a sample of 3D points is received from a 3D sensor. When the sensed locations in space of points of objects represented by the 3D points are the same as those for the prospective points of an object, they are redefined as an actual points of objects, and the initial constants are replaced with corresponding properties represented by the 3D points. An ambiguous object is then recognized from a sparsely populated cluster of actual points of an object identified based on the replacement of the initial constants. The ambiguous object is confirmed based on signals representing its surface properties received from a polarization image sensor.

Object detection system

A foldable dual-layered wall structure is positionable in a stowed condition and in a deployed condition. The wall structure includes a first foldable layer having at least a first pair of panels and a first joint rotatably connecting the panels of the at least a first pair of panels. A second foldable layer is positioned adjacent to the first foldable layer. The second foldable layer includes at least a second pair of panels and a second joint rotatably connecting the panels of the at least a second pair of panels. The wall structure is structured such that the first joint is positioned directly opposite a panel of the at least a second pair of panels and the second joint is positioned directly opposite a panel of the at least a first pair of panels when the wall structure is in the deployed condition.

Wall structure for a morphing structural member

An air-drag reduction mechanism for a vehicle is provided. The mechanism includes a shell structured to be deployable in a direction away from a vehicle, the shell including a plurality of telescoping shell segments. The shell segments are structured to form a shell having a shape which tapers or narrows in a direction away from the vehicle. The air-drag reduction mechanism may be incorporated into an air-drag reduction system including an actuation mechanism operatively coupled to the telescoping shell and operable to deploy the shell.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Yasuo Uehara