US 12,434,701 B2
Vehicle travel control apparatus
Akihiro Watanabe, Tokyo (JP); Shinya Katakai, Tokyo (JP); Atsushi Imai, Tokyo (JP); and Kazumasa Fukuchi, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to SUBARU CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by SUBARU CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Oct. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/491,808.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-168087 (JP), filed on Oct. 2, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0105936 A1, Apr. 7, 2022
Int. Cl. B60W 30/165 (2020.01); B60W 10/06 (2006.01); B60W 10/18 (2012.01); B60W 10/20 (2006.01); G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01)
CPC B60W 30/165 (2013.01) [B60W 10/06 (2013.01); B60W 10/18 (2013.01); B60W 10/20 (2013.01); G06V 20/584 (2022.01); G06V 20/588 (2022.01); B60W 2552/10 (2020.02); B60W 2552/53 (2020.02); B60W 2554/4041 (2020.02); B60W 2554/4045 (2020.02); B60W 2710/06 (2013.01); B60W 2710/18 (2013.01); B60W 2710/20 (2013.01); B60W 2720/106 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle travel control apparatus comprising:
an outside recognition device including at least one camera and configured to acquire traveling-environment image data that is image data of a traveling environment in front of an own vehicle that is a vehicle controlled by the vehicle travel control apparatus;
one or more processors; and
one or more memories storing instructions causing the one or more processors to execute a processing including
repeating, on a basis of the traveling-environment image data acquired by the outside recognition device, performing detections including a detection of lighting of a brake lamp in another vehicle that is different from the own vehicle, and a detection of blinking of a turn signal lamp in the other vehicle,
causing a steering mechanism provided in the own vehicle to control the own vehicle to travel along a target traveling course, on a basis of a result of the performed detections, and
in response to the detection of the blinking of the turn signal lamp in the other vehicle,
detecting, at a time point, a turning off of the blinking of the turn signal lamp in the other vehicle in which the blinking has been detected, and
determining whether a predetermined time period has elapsed from the time point,
wherein the one or more processors are configured to
start, in response to determining that the predetermined time period has elapsed, an execution of the processing, and
disable, in response to determining that the predetermined time period has not elapsed, the execution of the processing, and
wherein, in performing the detection of lighting of the brake lamp in the other vehicle that is different from the own vehicle, and the detection of blinking of the turn signal lamp in the other vehicle, the one or more processors are configured to
create a bounding box for the other vehicle in the traveling-environment image data, the bounding box including a right end, a left region and a right region closer to the right end than the left region;
determine whether the brake lamp of the other vehicle is lit based on determining that both of a first light detected in the left region and a second light detected in the right region are blinking; and
sequentially following the determining whether the brake lamp of the other vehicle is lit, determine whether the turn signal lamp of the other vehicle is blinking based on determining that both of the first light and the second light are not blinking, and that a single one of the first light or the second light is blinking.