Vehicle transportation system, vehicle transportation method, and storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12405608-B2
Application number	US-202318177080-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2023
Priority date	May 19, 2022
Publication date	Sep 2, 2025
Grant date	Sep 2, 2025

Abstract

The vehicle transportation system includes an in-vehicle system mounted on the vehicle, and a vehicle transportation device capable of communicating with the in-vehicle system and capable of transporting the vehicle by autonomous travel. The vehicle transportation device is configured to transmit a confirmation signal for confirming the presence or absence of a remote operation request to the in-vehicle system at the time of transportation of the vehicle, and permit remote operation from the inside of the vehicle when a request signal for remote operation is received from the in-vehicle system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle transportation system comprising:
an in-vehicle system mounted on a vehicle; and
a vehicle transporter configured to be able to communicate with the in-vehicle system and transport the vehicle by autonomous travel, wherein the vehicle transporter is configured to:
transmit, to the in-vehicle system, a confirmation signal for confirming presence or absence of a remote operation request when the vehicle is transported; and
permit a remote operation from inside of the vehicle when a request signal for requesting the remote operation is received from the in-vehicle system, wherein
the in-vehicle system includes:
a terminal to which information is able to be input and output;
an antenna for communicating with the vehicle transporter; and
a processor configured to output information for confirming the presence or absence of the remote operation request of the vehicle transporter to the terminal upon receiving the confirmation signal via the antenna.

2. The vehicle transportation system according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle transporter is configured to reflect a driving operation related to at least one of acceleration, steering, and braking performed in the vehicle to a driving operation of the vehicle transporter when the remote operation is permitted.

3. The vehicle transportation system according to claim 2 , wherein:
the in-vehicle system is configured to transmit an operation amount of the driving operation performed in the vehicle to the vehicle transporter; and
the vehicle transporter performs the driving operation based on the operation amount received from the in-vehicle system.

4. The vehicle transportation system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the in-vehicle system further includes an operation amount information acquisition device for acquiring an operation amount related to at least one driving operation of acceleration, steering, and braking performed in the vehicle; and
the processor is configured to start transmission of the operation amount related to the driving operation acquired by the operation amount information acquisition device to the vehicle transporter when information requesting a remote operation of the vehicle transporter is input via the terminal.

5. A vehicle transportation method by a vehicle transporter configured to be able to communicate with an in-vehicle system mounted on a vehicle and transport the vehicle by autonomous travel, the vehicle transportation method comprising:
transmitting, to the in-vehicle system, a confirmation signal for confirming presence or absence of a remote operation request when the vehicle is transported; and
permitting a remote operation from inside of the vehicle when a request signal for requesting the remote operation is received from the in-vehicle system, wherein
the in-vehicle system includes:
a terminal to which information is able to be input and output;
an antenna for communicating with the vehicle transporter; and
a processor configured to output information for confirming the presence or absence of the remote operation request of the vehicle transporter to the terminal upon receiving the confirmation signal via the antenna.

6. A non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program for controlling a vehicle transporter that is able to communicate with an in-vehicle system mounted on a vehicle and transport the vehicle by autonomous travel, the computer program causing the vehicle transporter to execute:
transmitting, to the in-vehicle system, a confirmation signal for confirming presence or absence of a remote operation request when the vehicle is transported; and
permitting a remote operation from inside of the vehicle when a request signal for requesting the remote operation is received from the in-vehicle system, wherein
the in-vehicle system includes:
a terminal to which information is able to be input and output;
an antenna for communicating with the vehicle transporter; and
a processor configured to output information for confirming the presence or absence of the remote operation request of the vehicle transporter to the terminal upon receiving the confirmation signal via the antenna.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Itoh Masayuki
• Maeda Iwao
• Sugano Tatsuya
• Watanabe Norinao
• Nakamura Yutaka
• Jikuhara Yoshikazu
• Nishikawa Yuki

Classifications

• B60W60/001

  Planning or execution of driving tasks · CPC title

• B60W2556/45

  External transmission of data to or from the vehicle · CPC title

• B60W60/007

  Emergency override (Handing over between remote control and on-board control or handing over between remote control arrangements G05D1/227) · CPC title

• B60P3/07

  for carrying road vehicles · CPC title

• G05D2107/13

  Spaces reserved for vehicle traffic, e.g. roads, regulated airspace or regulated waters · CPC title