US 12,187,326 B2
Control system for semi-autonomous control of vehicle along learned route
Wenxue Gao, Waldaschaff (DE)
Assigned to MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed by MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed on Jul. 22, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/947,184.
Application 16/947,184 is a continuation of application No. 15/596,348, filed on May 16, 2017, abandoned.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/336,883, filed on May 16, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2020/0348667 A1, Nov. 5, 2020
Int. Cl. B60W 60/00 (2020.01); B60W 30/10 (2006.01); B60W 50/00 (2006.01); B60W 50/08 (2020.01); B60W 50/14 (2020.01)
CPC B60W 60/0059 (2020.02) [B60W 30/10 (2013.01); B60W 50/0098 (2013.01); B60W 50/082 (2013.01); B60W 50/14 (2013.01); B60W 60/0053 (2020.02); B60W 60/0061 (2020.02); B60W 2050/0075 (2013.01); B60W 2050/0088 (2013.01); B60W 2050/143 (2013.01); B60W 2420/403 (2013.01); B60W 2420/408 (2024.01); B60W 2540/26 (2013.01); B60W 2554/4029 (2020.02); B60W 2555/20 (2020.02); B60W 2556/10 (2020.02)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicular control system, the vehicular control system comprising:
a vehicle control comprising circuitry and associated software, wherein the vehicle control is operable to control driving of a vehicle equipped with the vehicular control system;
an acceleration sensor disposed at the vehicle;
a camera disposed at an in-cabin side of a windshield of the vehicle and viewing forward of the vehicle through the windshield, the camera capturing image data;
wherein the circuitry of the vehicle control comprises an image processor for processing the image data captured by the camera;
wherein the image data captured by the camera while the vehicle is driven along a route by a driver of the vehicle is processed at the image processor to detect traffic viewed by the camera while the vehicle is driven along the route by the driver of the vehicle;
wherein the image data captured by the camera while the vehicle is driven along the route by the driver of the vehicle is processed at the image processor to detect road topography of a road currently traveled by the vehicle while the vehicle is driven along the route by the driver of the vehicle;
wherein the vehicle control, responsive at least in part to (i) detecting traffic while the vehicle is driven along the route by the driver of the vehicle, (ii) detecting road topography while the vehicle is driven along the route by the driver of the vehicle, and (iii) determining acceleration of the vehicle via the acceleration sensor while the vehicle is driven along the route by the driver of the vehicle, learns the route driven by the driver of the vehicle during multiple repetitive drives of the route by the driver of the vehicle;
wherein the vehicle control, when learning the route driven by the vehicle during multiple repetitive drives of the route by the vehicle, determines whether a driving segment of the route is a free ride driving segment or an interfered driving segment, and wherein the free ride driving segment comprises a driving segment where no vehicles are within a threshold distance in front of the vehicle, and wherein the interfered driving segment comprises a driving segment where another vehicle is within the threshold distance in front of the vehicle;
wherein the vehicle control, when learning the route driven by the vehicle during multiple repetitive drives of the route by the vehicle, assigns a greater learning weight to free ride driving segments relative to interfered driving segments;
wherein, during the multiple repetitive drives of the route by the vehicle to learn the route, a confidence level for the learned route is increased, and wherein the confidence level represents a likelihood the vehicle control is capable of at least semi-autonomously controlling the vehicle along the learned route;
wherein the vehicle control determines that the confidence level of the learned route fails to exceed a threshold value;
wherein, responsive to determining that the confidence level of the learned route fails to exceed the threshold value, the vehicle control disables at least semi-autonomous control of the vehicle along the learned route;
wherein, after the vehicle control disables at least semi-autonomous control of the vehicle along the learned route, the vehicle control determines that the confidence level of the learned route exceeds the threshold value;
wherein, responsive to determining that the confidence level of the learned route exceeds the threshold value, the vehicle control enables at least semi-autonomous control of the vehicle along the learned route; and
wherein, responsive at least in part to determining that the vehicle is traveling along the learned route when the at least semi-autonomous control of the vehicle along the learned route is enabled, the vehicle control at least semi-autonomously controls the vehicle along the learned route.