Autonomous vehicle, passenger vehicle, and vehicle transfer system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11912308-B2
Application number	US-202117557048-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2021
Priority date	Mar 2, 2021
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle allows passengers to transfer from a passenger vehicle, which is a relatively large vehicle, to the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle is provided with an autonomous travel control unit (steering control unit) configured to, when the passenger vehicle is stopped, cause the autonomous vehicle to pull up alongside the passenger vehicle such that an entrance (second entrance) of the autonomous vehicle is placed next to an entrance (first entrance) of the passenger vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An autonomous vehicle to which passengers transfer from a large vehicle relatively larger than the autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle comprising:
a processor configured to
in response to the large vehicle being stopped, cause the autonomous vehicle to pull up alongside the large vehicle to place a second entrance of the autonomous vehicle next to a first entrance of the large vehicle; and

a sensor configured to measure an offset distance between the second entrance of the autonomous vehicle and the first entrance of the large vehicle,
wherein the processor is configured to
recognize the first entrance of the large vehicle by implementing a neural network that has been trained by training data to distinguish the first entrance of the large vehicle, and
execute a correct arrival control for pulling up the autonomous vehicle alongside the large vehicle by controlling steering of the autonomous vehicle to cause the offset distance to fall within a predetermined proximity region.

2. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a suspension mechanism configured to adjust a vehicle height of the autonomous vehicle;
wherein
the suspension mechanism includes an air compressor connecting a wheel of the autonomous vehicle and a vehicle body of the autonomous vehicle, and
the processor is configured to
control the air compressor by supplying air to and exhausting the air from the air compressor, and
in response to the autonomous vehicle pulling up alongside the large vehicle, control the air compressor to adjust a floor surface of the second entrance to be at a same level as a floor surface of the first entrance.

3. A passenger vehicle configured to travel on a predetermined service route and allow passengers to board and alight from the passenger vehicle at a bus stop installed on the predetermined service route, the passenger vehicle comprising:
a passenger entrance provided on a first side wall facing a platform provided at the bus stop;
a transfer entrance which is provided on a second side wall facing a roadway and opposite to the first side wall, and through which the passengers transfer to an autonomous vehicle when the autonomous vehicle pulls up alongside the passenger vehicle; and
a processor configured to
acquire a captured image and three-dimensional point cloud data,
perform image recognition on the captured image,
execute clustering to divide the three-dimensional point cloud data into a plurality of clusters,
create surrounding data by superimposing coordinates of the captured image subject to the image recognition and the plurality of clusters of the three-dimensional point cloud data, and
based on the surrounding data, perform travel control of the passenger vehicle.

4. The passenger vehicle according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a sensor configured to measure a distance between the passenger vehicle and an object around the passenger vehicle, the sensor including
an emitter configured to irradiate an infrared laser beam toward an outside of the passenger vehicle,
a receiver configured to receive light reflected from irradiating the infrared laser beam, and
a motor configured to
rotate the emitter and the receiver, and
scan a surrounding of the passenger vehicle, wherein

the processor is configured to acquire the three-dimensional point cloud data from the sensor.

5. The passenger vehicle according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a camera in an interior of the passenger vehicle, wherein
the processor is configured to determine whether a passenger of the passengers has transferred to the autonomous vehicle based on a further image taken by the camera.

6. The passenger vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein
an appearance of the first side wall provided with the passenger entrance is visible to other vehicles and different from that of the second side wall provided with the transfer entrance.

7. A vehicle transfer system comprising:
a passenger vehicle configured to
travel on a predetermined service route, and
allow passengers to board and alight from the passenger vehicle at a bus stop installed on the predetermined service route; and

an autonomous vehicle to which the passengers transfer from the passenger vehicle,
wherein the passenger vehicle includes:
a passenger entrance provided on a first side wall facing a platform provided at the bus stop;
a transfer entrance which is provided on a second side wall facing a roadway and opposite to the first side wall, and through which the passengers transfer to the autonomous vehicle; and
a first processor configured to
acquire a captured image and three-dimensional point cloud data,
perform image recognition on the captured image,
execute clustering to divide the three-dimensional point cloud data into a plurality of clusters,
create surrounding data by superimposing coordinates of the captured image subject to the image recognition and the plurality of clusters of the three-dimensional point cloud data, and
based on the surrounding data, perform travel control of the passenger vehicle, and

wherein the autonomous vehicle includes:
an entrance provided on a side wall on a same side as the first side wall of the passenger vehicle;
a second processor configured to
in response to the passenger vehicle being stopped at the bus stop, cause the autonomous vehicle to pull up alongside the passenger vehicle to place the entrance of the autonomous vehicle next to the transfer entrance of the passenger vehicle; and

a sensor configured to measure an offset distance between the entrance of the autonomous vehicle and the transfer entrance of the passenger vehicle, and

the second processor is configured to
recognize the transfer entrance of the passenger vehicle by implementing a neural network that has been trained by training data to distinguish the passenger entrance and the transfer entrance of the passenger vehicle, and
execute a correct arrival control for pulling up the autonomous vehicle alongside the passenger vehicle by controlling steering of the autonomous vehicle to cause the offset distance to fall within a predetermined proximity region.

8. The vehicle transfer system according to claim 7 , wherein
the passenger vehicle further comprises a first sliding door installed at the transfer entrance, the first sliding door configured to move forward and backward in a front-back direction of the passenger vehicle, the passenger vehicle, and
the autonomous vehicle further comprises a second sliding door installed at the entrance of the autonomous vehicle, the second sliding door configured to move forward and backward in a front-back direction of the autonomous vehicle.

9. The vehicle transfer system according to claim 7 , wherein
the autonomous vehicle further includes a suspension mechanism configured to adjust a vehicle height;
wherein the suspension mechanism includes an air compressor connecting a wheel of the autonomous vehicle and a vehicle body of the autonomous vehicle, and
the second processor is configured to
control the air compressor by supplying air to and exhausting the air from the air compressor, and
in response to the autonomous vehicle pulling up alongside the passenger vehicle, control the air compressor to adjust a floor surface of the entrance of the autonomous vehicle to be at a same level as a floor surface of the transfer entrance of the passenger vehicle.

10. The vehicle transfer system according to claim 8 , wherein
the passenger vehicle further comprises a sensor configured to measure a distance between the passenger vehicle and an object around the passenger vehicle, the sensor including
an

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Sakurada Shin
• Hoshi Katsuya
• Sugiyama Hiroaki
• Sawada Masahisa
• Ito Hiroyuki
• SEGI Makoto
• Hattori Hiroki

Classifications

• B60W60/0025 Primary

  specially adapted for specific operations · CPC title

• B60J5/062

  for utility vehicles or public transport (B60J5/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60W10/20

  including control of steering systems · CPC title

• B60W10/22

  including control of suspension systems · CPC title

• B60W2554/80

  Spatial relation or speed relative to objects · CPC title