US 12,459,526 B2
Driving assistance device
Taiki Iida, Nisshin (JP); and Yusuke Tatesumi, Seto (JP)
Assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Toyota (JP)
Filed by TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Toyota (JP)
Filed on Aug. 28, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/456,947.
Claims priority of application No. 2022-181196 (JP), filed on Nov. 11, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2025/0074442 A1, Mar. 6, 2025
Int. Cl. B60W 50/14 (2020.01); B60W 40/06 (2012.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01)
CPC B60W 50/14 (2013.01) [B60W 40/06 (2013.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01); B60W 2420/403 (2013.01); B60W 2554/4046 (2020.02)] 3 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A driving assistance device that performs driving assistance including providing notifications to an occupant of a host vehicle that includes an external sensor and an external camera, the driving assistance device comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing executable instructions that cause the processor to
acquire a detection result from the external sensor and images captured by the external camera, wherein the images captured by the external camera include images of a front view of another vehicle showing a head position of a driver of the other vehicle;
determine a fluctuation amount of the other vehicle traveling around the host vehicle, based on the acquired detection result;
determine whether the driver of the other vehicle is impaired based on the acquired images, wherein
the processor determines that the driver of the other vehicle is impaired when, in the captured front view of the other vehicle, the head position of the driver of the other vehicle is outside of a certain range visible through a windshield of the other vehicle;
compare the fluctuation amount of the other vehicle with a predetermined fluctuation amount;
determine whether the other vehicle is in a fluctuation abnormal state, based on the comparison result between the fluctuation amount of the other vehicle and a predetermined fluctuation amount, wherein the processor determines that the vehicle is in the fluctuation abnormal state when the fluctuation amount of the other vehicle and a predetermined fluctuation amount, wherein
in a case where the processor determines that the driver of the other vehicle is impaired, the processor uses an absolute value of the predetermined fluctuation amount that is set lower than an absolute value of the predetermined fluctuation amount in a case where the processor determines that the driver of the other vehicle is not impaired; and
notify the occupant of the host vehicle about the fluctuation abnormal state of the other vehicle by at least one of displaying a notification on a display of the host vehicle or outputting a sound from a speaker of the host vehicle.