US 11,718,307 B2
Vehicle control apparatus
Fumiya Sato, Tokyo (JP); Hideyuki Takao, Tokyo (JP); and Yui Ota, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to SUBARU CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by SUBARU CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Aug. 12, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/400,199.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-143196 (JP), filed on Aug. 27, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0063634 A1, Mar. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. B60W 40/06 (2012.01); B60W 40/09 (2012.01); B60W 50/00 (2006.01); G06V 20/59 (2022.01); G06V 40/10 (2022.01); G06V 40/16 (2022.01); B60W 40/08 (2012.01)
CPC B60W 40/09 (2013.01) [B60W 40/06 (2013.01); B60W 50/00 (2013.01); G06V 20/597 (2022.01); G06V 40/10 (2022.01); G06V 40/161 (2022.01); B60W 2040/0818 (2013.01); B60W 2050/0054 (2013.01); B60W 2540/229 (2020.02)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle control apparatus to be applied to a vehicle, the vehicle control apparatus comprising:
a driver state-value detection processor configured to detect a state value of a driver who drives the vehicle;
a road-surface-state detection processor configured to detect a road-surface state of a road on which vehicle is traveling based on information received from sensors mounted on the vehicle, the information including a road-surface temperature, a road-surface roughness and a road-surface moisture;
a threshold setting processor configured to set a safe zone for the state value of the driver based on one or more determination thresholds;
a dangerous-driving determination processor configured to determine that a dangerous driving is occurring in a case where the state value of the driver is present within a range outside of the safe zone for a predetermined time period or more; and
a determination threshold changing processor configured i) to change the one or more determination thresholds on a basis of the road-surface state in a case where the vehicle is traveling on a highway and ii) to fix the one or more determination thresholds in a case where the vehicle is not traveling on the highway.