Mazda Motor Corporation

Yoko Hoshino

Hiroki Uemura

Junichiro Kuwahara

Akira Kaino

Yoshitaka Fujihara

Makoto Yoshida

Tadayuki Niibe

Yohei Iwashita

Yusaku Takeda

Yoshihisa Okamoto

Shimpei Kusumoto

Kumiko Takenouchi

Ryohei Hisamitsu

Hitomi Nakazato

Michio Tanaka

Megumi Nakano

A driver state determination apparatus detects decline of the physical function of a driver and confirms an abnormal state before the driver becomes unable to drive. A vibration apparatus vibrates a steering wheel; a vibration detector detects vibration of the steering wheel; a steering angle sensor detects a steering angle of the steering wheel; and a controller controls the vibration apparatus. The controller provides vibration at a predetermined excitation frequency to the steering wheel by the vibration apparatus, calculates a steering torque level at the excitation frequency based on the vibration detected by the vibration detector, and determines that the driver is in an abnormal state when a correlation coefficient between a time variation of a steering torque level while the vibration is being provided and a time variation of a steering angle while the vibration is being provided is equal to or more than a predetermined value.

Driver state determination apparatus

A vehicle driving support system evaluates the ability of a driver based on the driving operation of the driver for each of a plurality of driving-related functions possessed by the driver to drive the vehicle. In addition, the vehicle driving support system determines whether the ability of the driver is less than a predetermined standard for each of the driving-related functions and is not improved from then on, based on the past evaluation result of the ability of the driver. When determining that the ability of the driver is less than the predetermined standard for at least a part of the driving-related functions and is not improved from then on, the vehicle driving support system performs substitution control that causes a vehicle to perform the part of the driving-related functions instead so as to perform driving even if the driver does not exert the ability.

Vehicle driving support system and vehicle driving support method

A vehicle control apparatus includes a circuitry capable of controlling a vehicle. The circuitry is configured to estimate a traffic risk score, a travel risk score, and a driving ability score. The circuitry is configured to change a first threshold, with which automated vehicle attitude stability control is initiated, so as to promptly execute the automated vehicle attitude stability control when a travel risk is not avoided by the driving ability, change a second threshold, with which automatic entry avoidance control is initiated, so as to promptly execute the automatic entry avoidance control when the traffic risk is not avoided by the driving ability, and control the vehicle to travel on a target travel route when the traffic risk and the travel risk are not avoided by the driving ability or when the driving ability is lower than a specified level.

Vehicle control apparatus

A vehicle driving support system evaluates the ability of a driver based on the driving operation of the driver for each of driving-related functions possessed by the driver to drive the vehicle. Based on the past evaluation result, the vehicle driving support system determines whether the ability of the driver is less than a predetermined standard, whether the ability of the driver is not improved from then on, and whether the ability of the driver is on a declining trend for each of the driving-related functions. The vehicle driving support system performs support control for causing the vehicle to support the exertion of the ability of the driver when determining that the ability of the driver is less than the predetermined standard and improvable from then on or that the ability of the driver is equal to or more than the predetermined standard and is on a declining trend.

Disclosed herein is a technique for providing driving assistance for a driver in such a way as to increase the driver's degree of internal focus on driving if his or her degree of internal focus on driving is estimated to be low when deactivation of autonomous driving is predicted. Examples of such driving assistance include boosting the moving vehicle noise to be heard inside the vehicle's cabin, increasing sensitivity to a change in the vehicle's state responsive to driving operations, providing navigation to a road with features that would entertain the driver through driving, and giving guidance in exemplary driving operations.

Driving assistance device

An electronic mirror control device includes: an imager which captures a rearward image including a rear side surface of the vehicle; a display which displays the rearward image; a calculator which calculates a position of a vanishing point; an extractor which extracts a rear side surface region where the rear side surface of the vehicle is displayed; and a display controller which displays a lower region of the rearward image with brightness higher than brightness of a region other than the lower region, the lower region being surrounded by an outer rim of the display, a first straight line taking the vanishing point as a point of origin, passing through the rear side surface region, and extending below a horizon, and a second straight line taking the vanishing point as a point of origin, and extending below the horizon on a side opposite to the first straight line.

Electronic mirror control device

A display control device for a vehicle, which is applied to a vehicle provided with an outside camera to image scenery in front of the vehicle and a display portion visible and operable for a driver, comprises an optical-flow presumption portion which presumes an optical flow based on the front scenery imaged by the outside camera, an additive-display-line setting portion to set an additive-display line to be applied to the display portion according to the optical flow presumed by the optical-flow presumption portion, and a display control portion to conduct a display control for the display portion based on the additive-display line set by the additive-display-line setting portion.

Growing community of inventors

Hiroshima, Japan

Yoko Hoshino