US 12,246,738 B2
Autonomous and manual mode swtiching for utility vehicle
Hiroshi Ishii, Akashi (JP); Taro Iwamoto, Akashi (JP); Takeshi Nakajima, Akashi (JP); Kazuya Nagasaka, Kobe (JP); Atsushi Sano, Kobe (JP); and Kazuhiro Ichikawa, Kobe (JP)
Assigned to KAWASAKI MOTORS, LTD., Akashi (JP)
Appl. No. 17/999,813
Filed by KAWASAKI MOTORS, LTD., Akashi (JP)
PCT Filed May 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/021164
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 23, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/240741, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 2, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0166750 A1, Jun. 1, 2023
Int. Cl. B60W 60/00 (2020.01); B60W 50/08 (2020.01); B60W 50/12 (2012.01); G05D 1/81 (2024.01)
CPC B60W 50/082 (2013.01) [B60W 50/12 (2013.01); B60W 60/005 (2020.02); B60W 60/0051 (2020.02); B60W 60/0053 (2020.02); G05D 1/81 (2024.01); B60W 2300/12 (2013.01); B60W 2400/00 (2013.01); B60W 2422/00 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A utility vehicle comprising:
a travel structure including a front wheel, a rear wheel, a steering structure mounted to the front wheel, and a drive source that drives the front wheel and/or the rear wheel;
at least one operator including at least one of an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a steering wheel, and a gear shift lever; and
a processor that controls the travel structure,
wherein the processor switches the utility vehicle between a manned operation mode in which the utility vehicle travels in response to operations on the operator and an autonomous travel mode in which the processor allows the utility vehicle to autonomously travel on a given travel route without any operations on the operator, and
wherein the processor keeps the utility vehicle in the autonomous travel mode in a case in which the operator is operated during the autonomous travel mode.