Notification device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11364842-B2
Application number	US-202017089173-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2020
Priority date	Oct 10, 2018
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

A notification device includes a calculation unit calculating, based on a speed of a vehicle, a vehicle stoppage distance by which the vehicle travels until the vehicle enters a stopped state while performing autonomous driving, a notification unit performing notification about information with respect to an outside of the vehicle, and a notification controller causing the notification unit not to perform notification about information indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration until the vehicle passes by a first soon-to-cross pedestrian and to cause the notification unit to perform notification about the information after the vehicle passes by the first soon-to-cross pedestrian when a distance between the vehicle and the first soon-to-cross pedestrian is smaller than the vehicle stoppage distance and a distance between the vehicle and a second soon-to-cross pedestrian is equal to or greater than the vehicle stoppage distance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for notifying a first object of information using a notification device provided in a vehicle, the method comprising:
recognizing a position of the first object based on a result of detection performed by an external sensor;
decelerating the vehicle and outputting a visual or sound notification, based on an output signal of an electronic control unit, on a display or by a speaker installed outside of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration in response to determining that a distance between the recognized first object and the position of the vehicle at a timing when recognizing the position of the first object is equal or greater than a first distance; and
outputting the notification on the display or by the speaker installed outside of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is passing by the first object in response to determining that the distance between the recognized first object and the position of the vehicle at the timing when recognizing the position of the first object is smaller than the first distance.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating a vehicle stoppage distance based on a speed of the vehicle; and
determining the first distance based on the vehicle stoppage distance.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the recognized first object is a soon-to-cross pedestrian; and
performing the notification in response to determining that the recognized first object is the soon-to-cross pedestrian.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
recognizing a position of a second object based on the result of detection performed by the external sensor; and
performing notification indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration after the vehicle passes the first object in response to determining that the distance between the second object and the position of the vehicle at a start of the deceleration is greater than the first distance.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
determining whether the vehicle is in a stopped state; and
changing notification from information indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration to information indicating that the vehicle is in the stopped state in response to determining that the vehicle is in the stopped state.

6. A device provided in a vehicle, the device comprising:
a controller programmed to:
recognize a position of a first object based on a result of detection performed by an external sensor;
decelerate the vehicle and output a visual or sound notification, based on an output signal of an electronic control unit, on a display or by a speaker installed outside of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration in response to determining that a distance between the recognized first object and the position of the vehicle at a timing when recognizing the position of the first object is equal or greater than a first distance; and
output the notification on the display or by the speaker installed outside of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is passing by the first object in response to determining that the distance between the recognized first object and the position of the vehicle at the timing when recognizing the position of the first object is smaller than the first distance.

7. The device according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
calculate a vehicle stoppage distance based on a speed of the vehicle; and
determine the first distance based on the vehicle stoppage distance.

8. The device according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
determine whether the recognized first object is a soon-to-cross pedestrian; and
perform the notification in response to determining that the recognized first object is the soon-to-cross pedestrian.

9. The device according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
recognize a position of a second object based on the result of detection performed by the external sensor; and
perform notification indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration after the vehicle passes the first object in response to determining that the distance between the second object and the position of the vehicle at a start of the deceleration is greater than the first distance.

10. The device according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
determine whether the vehicle is in a stopped state; and
change notification from information indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration to information indicating that the vehicle is in the stopped state in response to determining that the vehicle is in the stopped state.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions recorded therein for performing a method comprising:
recognizing a position of a first object based on a result of detection performed by an external sensor;
decelerating the vehicle and outputting a visual or sound notification, based on an output signal of an electronic control unit, on a display or by a speaker installed outside of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration in response to determining that a distance between the recognized first object and the position of the vehicle at a timing when recognizing the position of the first object is equal or greater than a first distance; and
outputting the notification on the display or by the speaker installed outside of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is passing by the first object in response to determining that the distance between the recognized first object and the position of the vehicle at the timing when recognizing the position of the first object is smaller than the first distance.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , the method performed by the instructions recorded therein further comprising:
calculating a vehicle stoppage distance based on a speed of the vehicle; and
determining the first distance based on the vehicle stoppage distance.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , the method performed by the instructions recorded therein further comprising:
determining whether the recognized first object is a soon-to-cross pedestrian; and
performing the notification in response to determining that the recognized first object is the soon-to-cross pedestrian.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , the method performed by the instructions recorded therein further comprising:
recognizing a position of a second object based on the result of detection performed by the external sensor; and
performing notification indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration after the vehicle passes the first object in response to determining that the distance between the second object and the position of the vehicle at a start of the deceleration is greater than the first distance.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 14 , the method performed by the instructions recorded therein further comprising:
determining whether the vehicle is in a stopped state; and
changing notification from information indicating that the vehicle is in the middle of deceleration to information indicating that the vehicle is in the stopped state in response to determining that the vehicle is in the stopped state.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Morimura Junichi

Classifications

• B60Q1/525 Primary

  automatically indicating risk of collision between vehicles in traffic or with pedestrians, e.g. after risk assessment using the vehicle sensor data · CPC title

• B60Q1/442 Primary

  visible on the front side of the vehicle, e.g. for pedestrians · CPC title

• B60Q1/507

  specific to autonomous vehicles · CPC title

• G08G1/166

  for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes · CPC title

• G08G1/005

  including pedestrian guidance indicator · CPC title