Vehicle control interface and vehicle including the same, autonomous driving system and vehicle including the same, and method of controlling vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12434741-B2
Application number	US-202217947592-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2022
Priority date	Sep 28, 2021
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle includes a manual like a POV mode that is set when a VP is turned on, a manual with VO mode in which the VP is under the control by an operator, and an autonomy with VO mode in which the VP is under the control by an ADS. A processor of a VCIB is configured 1) to receive an operator command for transition of the vehicle from the manual like a POV mode to the manual with VO mode from the ADS and 2) to provide an autonomy ready signal indicating that autonomous driving of the VP is ready to the ADS and receive an autonomy request for transition of the vehicle from the manual with VO mode to the autonomy with VO mode from the ADS.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle control interface that interfaces between an autonomous driving system (ADS) and a vehicle platform (VP) that controls a vehicle in accordance with a control request from the ADS, the vehicle including a first manual mode that is set when the VP is turned on and that does not require that an operator is present in the VP, a second manual mode in which the operator is required to be present in the VP and the VP is under control by the operator, and an autonomy mode in which the VP is under control by the ADS, the vehicle control interface comprising:
a processor; and
a memory in which a program executable by the processor is stored, wherein
the processor is configured to
inform the ADS whether the operator is present in the VP,
receive, from the ADS, an operator command for transition of the vehicle from the first manual mode to the second manual mode when it has been determined that the operator is present in the VP, and not transitioning the vehicle from the first manual mode to the autonomy mode when it has not been determined that the operator is present in the VP, and
after the vehicle has transitioned to the second manual mode in which the operator is present in the VP, provide the ADS with an autonomy ready signal indicating readiness for autonomous driving of the VP and receive, from the ADS, an autonomy request for transition of the vehicle from the second manual mode to the autonomy mode.

2. The vehicle control interface according to claim 1 , wherein
the processor is configured to receive, from the ADS, an autonomy deactivation request that requests cancellation of the autonomy mode, while the vehicle is in the autonomy mode.

3. The vehicle control interface according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle further includes a sleep mode in which the vehicle control interface is shut down, and
the processor is configured to receive, from the ADS, a power mode request for transition of the vehicle from the second manual mode to the sleep mode, while the vehicle is in the second manual mode.

4. The vehicle control interface according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle further includes a maintenance mode for maintenance of the vehicle, and
the processor is configured to, while transitioning from the first manual mode to the maintenance mode:
provide the ADS with a power mode status signal indicating that ignition of the VP is on,
provide the ADS with a propulsion direction status signal indicating that a shift range is set to a Park (P) range,
provide the ADS with an actual moving direction signal indicating that the VP is at a standstill, and
receive, from the ADS, a maintenance request to perform maintenance of the vehicle.

5. The vehicle control interface according to claim 4 , wherein
the processor is configured to, while transitioning from the maintenance mode to the first manual mode:
provide the ADS with the power mode status signal indicating that ignition of the VP is on,
provide the ADS with the propulsion direction status signal indicating that the shift range is set to the P range,
provide the ADS with the actual moving direction signal indicating that the VP is at the standstill, and
receive, from the ADS, no request for maintenance of the vehicle.

6. A vehicle comprising the VP including the vehicle control interface according to claim 1 .

7. An autonomous driving system (ADS) mountable on a vehicle, the vehicle including a vehicle platform (VP) that controls the vehicle in accordance with a control request from the ADS, the VP including a vehicle control interface that interfaces between the ADS and the VP, the vehicle including a first manual mode that is set when the VP is turned on and that does not require that an operator is present in the VP, a second manual mode in which the operator is required to be present in the VP and the VP is under control by the operator, and an autonomy mode in which the VP is under control by the ADS, the ADS comprising:
a compute assembly; and
a communication module configured to communicate with the vehicle control interface, wherein
the compute assembly is configured to
receive from the vehicle control interface an indication as to whether the operator is present in the VP,
(i) when it has been determined that the operator is present in the VP, provide the vehicle control interface with an operator command for transition of the vehicle from the first manual mode to the second manual mode, and (ii) when it has not been determined that the operator is present in the VP, not provide the vehicle control interface with the operator command for transition of the vehicle from the first manual mode to the autonomy mode, and
receive, from the vehicle control interface, an autonomy ready signal indicating readiness for autonomous driving of the VP after the vehicle has transitioned to the second manual mode in which the operator is present in the VP, and provide the vehicle control interface with an autonomy request for transition of the vehicle from the second manual mode to the autonomy mode.

8. The ADS according to claim 7 , wherein
the compute assembly is configured to provide the vehicle control interface with an autonomy deactivation request that requests cancellation of the autonomy mode, while the vehicle is in the autonomy mode.

9. The ADS according to claim 7 , wherein
the vehicle further includes a sleep mode in which the vehicle control interface is shut down, and
the compute assembly is configured to provide the vehicle control interface with a power mode request for transition of the vehicle from the second manual mode to the sleep mode, while the vehicle is in the second manual mode.

10. The ADS according to claim 7 , wherein
the vehicle further includes a maintenance mode for maintenance of the vehicle, and
the compute assembly is configured to, while transitioning the VP from the first manual mode to the maintenance mode:
receive, from the vehicle control interface, a power mode status signal indicating that ignition of the VP is on,
receive, from the vehicle control interface, a propulsion direction status signal indicating that a shift range is set to a Park (P) range,
receive, from the vehicle control interface, an actual moving direction signal indicating that the VP is at a standstill, and
provide the vehicle control interface with a maintenance request to perform maintenance of the vehicle.

11. The ADS according to claim 10 , wherein
the compute assembly is configured to, while transitioning the VP from the maintenance mode to the first manual mode:
receive, from the vehicle control interface, the power mode status signal indicating that ignition of the VP is on,
receive, from the vehicle control interface, the propulsion direction status signal indicating that the shift range is set to the P range,
receive, from the vehicle control interface, the actual moving direction signal indicating that the VP is at the standstill, and
provide the vehicle control interface with no request for maintenance of the vehicle.

12. A vehicle comprising:
the ADS according to claim 7 ; and
the VP.

13. A method of controlling a vehicle, the vehicle including a vehicle platform (VP) that controls the vehicle in accordance with a control request from an autonomous driving system (ADS), the VP including a vehicle control interface that interfaces between the ADS and the VP, the method comprising:
setting the vehicle to a first manual mode when the VP is turned on, the first manual mode does not require that an operator is present in the VP; and
making transition, by the vehicle, from the first manual mode via a second

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ando Eisuke
• Hioki Toshikazu

Classifications

• B60W50/035

  Bringing the control units into a predefined state, e.g. giving priority to particular actuators · CPC title

• B60W50/14

  Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention · CPC title

• B60W60/0061

  Aborting handover process · CPC title

• H04L12/40039

  Details regarding the setting of the power status of a node according to activity on the bus · CPC title

• G05D1/0061

  for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa · CPC title