Vehicle occupant information acquisition device and vehicle control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9783202-B2
Application number	US-201615182822-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2016
Priority date	Jul 27, 2015
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle occupant information acquisition device includes a microcomputer, an acquisition unit and an alert unit. The microcomputer controls the vehicle to switch between an autonomous driving mode and a manual driving mode. The acquisition unit acquires, from vehicle occupants riding in the vehicle, information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants. In a case in which the microcomputer is switching the vehicle from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode, the microcomputer causes the alert unit to alert one of the vehicle occupants who is determined to be suitable to drive the vehicle based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit that he/she has been selected as the driver of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle occupant information acquisition device comprising:
a microcomputer configured to control a vehicle to switch between an autonomous driving mode and a manual driving mode of the vehicle;
acquisition means for acquiring, from two or more vehicle occupants riding in the vehicle, a plurality of information relating to driving suitability of each of the vehicle occupants, the plurality of information being supplied to the microcomputer; and
an indicator coupled to and controlled by the microcomputer, wherein in a case in which the microcomputer is switching the vehicle from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode, the microcomputer causes the indicator to alert one of the vehicle occupants who is determined to be suitable to drive the vehicle based on the plurality of information acquired by the acquisition means that the one of the vehicle occupants has been selected as the driver of the vehicle in the manual driving mode,
wherein the microcomputer is configured to select, and cause the indicator to alert, the one of the vehicle occupants who is suitable to drive by calculating an evaluation value for each of the vehicle occupants by adding respective weightings based on the plurality of information acquired by the acquisition means and by evaluating each of the vehicle occupants based on the calculated evaluation value for each of the vehicle occupants.

2. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes at least one of: personal information including whether or not the vehicle occupants are licensed to drive; information representing a state of alcoholic influence of the vehicle occupants; information representing a state of physical condition of the vehicle occupants; driving skill information of the vehicle occupants; driving history information of the vehicle occupants; information representing a driving distribution of the vehicle occupants; and information on willingness of the vehicle occupants to drive.

3. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , further comprising a detector configured to detect respective positions and facing directions of a plurality of seats of the vehicle whose positions and facing directions relative to the vehicle are respectively changeable,
wherein, in a case in which the microcomputer is switching the vehicle from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode, the microcomputer causes the indicator to alert the one of the vehicle occupants who is suitable to drive based on the information acquired by the acquisition means and detection results of the detector.

4. A vehicle control system comprising:
the vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 3 ; and
actuators, coupled to the plurality of seats, that change the respective positions and facing directions of the plurality of seats;
wherein the microcomputer controls the actuators so as to set a seat on which the one of the vehicle occupants determined to be suitable to drive is sitting to a position and facing direction suitable for driving.

5. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes information as to whether or not the vehicle occupants are licensed to drive.

6. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes information representing a state of alcoholic influence of the vehicle occupants.

7. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes information representing a state of physical condition of the vehicle occupants.

8. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes driving skill information of the vehicle occupants.

9. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes driving history information of the vehicle occupants.

10. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes information representing a driving distribution of the vehicle occupants.

11. The vehicle occupant information acquisition device according to claim 1 , wherein the information relating to driving suitability of the vehicle occupants acquired by the acquisition means includes information on willingness of the vehicle occupants to drive.

12. A vehicle occupant information acquisition device comprising:
a microcomputer configured to control a vehicle to switch between an autonomous driving mode and a manual driving mode of the vehicle, the microcomputer configured to:
acquire, from two or more vehicle occupants riding in the vehicle, a plurality of information relating to driving suitability of each of the vehicle occupants, and
in a case in which the microcomputer is switching the vehicle from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode:
calculate an evaluation value for each of the vehicle occupants by adding respective weightings based on the acquired plurality of information,
evaluate each of the vehicle occupants based on the calculated evaluation value for each of the vehicle occupants, and
select and alert one of the vehicle occupants who is determined to be suitable to drive the vehicle based on the evaluation.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a control program causing a computer, configured to control a vehicle to switch between an autonomous driving mode and a manual driving mode of the vehicle, to execute a process for vehicle occupant information acquisition, the process comprising:
acquiring, from two or more vehicle occupants riding in the vehicle, a plurality of information relating to driving suitability of each of the vehicle occupants, and
in a case in which the computer is switching the vehicle from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode:
calculating an evaluation value for each of the vehicle occupants by adding respective weightings based on the acquired plurality of information,
evaluating each of the vehicle occupants based on the calculated evaluation value for each of the vehicle occupants, and
selecting and alerting one of the vehicle occupants who is determined to be suitable to drive the vehicle based on the evaluating.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamada Yoshinori

Classifications

• B60W2540/221

  Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs · CPC title

• B60W2040/0827

  due to sleepiness · CPC title

• B60N2/14

  rotatable, e.g. to permit easy access (B60N2/10 {, B60N2/2869} take precedence) · CPC title

• B60W2040/0872

  Driver physiology · CPC title

• B60W2540/22

  Psychological state; Stress level or workload · CPC title