US 11,667,282 B2
Driving assistance system
Satoshi Inoue, Anjo (JP); Shintaro Inoue, Kanagawa (JP); Shusaku Sugamoto, Toyota (JP); and Shuhei Manabe, Toyota (JP)
Assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Toyota (JP)
Filed by TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Toyota (JP)
Filed on Dec. 16, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/714,969.
Claims priority of application No. JP2018-247766 (JP), filed on Dec. 28, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2020/0207341 A1, Jul. 2, 2020
Int. Cl. B60W 30/095 (2012.01); B60W 30/182 (2020.01); B62D 1/04 (2006.01); B60W 30/18 (2012.01); B62D 5/04 (2006.01); B60W 30/12 (2020.01); B60T 8/175 (2006.01)
CPC B60W 30/0956 (2013.01) [B60W 30/12 (2013.01); B60W 30/182 (2013.01); B60W 30/18163 (2013.01); B62D 1/04 (2013.01); B62D 5/0409 (2013.01); B60T 8/175 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A driving assistance system that performs a driver-initiative normal driving assistance mode as a driving assistance for a vehicle, the system comprising:
an electronic control unit (ECU), including a processor and a memory that stores a program executed by the processor, configured to:
recognize an operation amount performed by a driver for an operation device of the vehicle;
recognize an external environment of the vehicle;
set an appropriate operation amount range that is a range of an appropriate operation amount performed by the driver in response to the external environment;
determine whether or not the operation amount of the driver is included in the appropriate operation amount range at a first time;
change reaction force characteristics of the operation device, when the operation amount of the driver at the first time is determined to not be included in the appropriate operation amount range by:
controlling, during a normal driving assistance mode and after determining that the operation amount of the driver at the first time is not included in the appropriate operation amount range, a reaction force increase amount of the operation device with respect to an increase of the operation amount within the appropriate operation amount range to be larger than a reaction force increase amount of the operation device with respect to the increase of the operation amount within the appropriate operation amount range when the operation amount of the driver is determined to be in the appropriate operation range at the first time, and
controlling, during the normal driving assistance mode and after determining that the operation amount of the driver at the first time is not included in the appropriate operation amount range, a reaction force decrease amount of the operation device with respect to a decrease of the operation amount within the appropriate operation amount range to be larger than a reaction force decrease amount of the operation device with respect to the decrease of the operation amount within the appropriate operation amount range when the operation amount of the driver is determined to be in the appropriate operation range at the first time;
determine whether or not an explicit risk is present based on the external environment of the vehicle; and
switch a driving assistance for the vehicle from the normal driving assistance mode to a system-initiative risk avoidance assistance mode, based upon the determination that the explicit risk is present in the normal driving assistance mode.