Patents by Inventor Mitsuhiro Tokimasa

Mitsuhiro Tokimasa has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11932248
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus performs a following travel mode in which an own vehicle travels while following a followed vehicle ahead of the own vehicle. The apparatus includes a surrounding object detection section that acquires detection information regarding a surrounding object, a space determination section that uses the detection information to determine presence/absence of a free space located laterally to an own lane, a setting condition determination section that determines whether a first other vehicle having entered the own lane from the free space or a second other vehicle traveling ahead of a preceding vehicle having entered the free space from the own lane meets a setting condition for setting the first or second other vehicle as the followed vehicle, and an automated driving control section that sets the first or second other vehicle as the followed vehicle to perform the following travel mode if the setting condition is met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takumi Uematsu, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Michihiro Kuroki
  • Patent number: 11878688
    Abstract: In a vehicle control apparatus, an entry determiner determines, while one of the following traveling mode and the constant-speed traveling mode is performed by the vehicle control apparatus, whether an entry condition is satisfied in response to determination that there is at least one other crossing vehicle. The entry condition enables the at least one other crossing vehicle to cross in front of the own vehicle to thereafter enter the enterable space without colliding with the own vehicle. An autonomous driving controller switches, upon the entry condition being determined to be satisfied, the performed one of the following traveling mode and the constant-speed traveling mode to a crossing mode that controls traveling of the own vehicle to ensure a predetermined space in front of the own vehicle. The predetermined space enables the at least one other crossing vehicle to cross in front of the own vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takumi Uematsu, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Michihiro Kuroki
  • Patent number: 11834046
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus includes an intersection information detection section that detects information on an intersection, and includes a traveling route detection section that detects a traveling route of the vehicle and a cross road detection section that detects a cross road intersecting the traveling route, an operation detection section that detects a plan of operation of the vehicle at the intersection, a waiting position setting section that sets a waiting position where the vehicle is caused to wait at the intersection until the vehicle becomes possible to perform the operation, and a determination section that determines whether the vehicle can perform the operation by the time a traffic light on the traveling route at the intersection turns red. The waiting position setting section sets a position, where another vehicle is not hindered from traveling on the crossing road by the vehicle stopped at the waiting position, as the waiting position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuta Komoguchi, Yohei Masui, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Takumi Uematsu
  • Patent number: 11603096
    Abstract: A traveling control apparatus performs a target-following control process on a target to be followed detected by a target detecting unit. Further, the traveling control apparatus calculates a probability that the target to be followed is within an own lane, and determines whether a degree of recognition by the target detecting unit of the target to be followed is in a weakly recognized state where the degree of recognition is weaker than a predetermined degree. The apparatus sets a reliability of the target to be followed on the basis of the probability calculated by a probability calculating process and a determination result by a determining process, and controls acceleration of an own vehicle so that a jerk which is a differential value of the acceleration becomes smaller as the reliability of the target to be followed is lower while the target-following control process is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Takuma Sudo, Takashi Maeda, Naoki Kusumoto
  • Patent number: 11524688
    Abstract: In an apparatus for assisting a turn of a vehicle at an intersection, a turn-signal state detection unit is configured to detect an operating state of a turn signal of the vehicle. A road information detection unit is configured to detect road information that is information regarding a road on which the vehicle is traveling. A determination unit is configured to, using at least one of the detected operating state of the turn signal and the detected road information, determine whether or not the vehicle will make a turn at the intersection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenji Kato, Yohei Masui, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Yuta Komoguchi
  • Patent number: 11428804
    Abstract: To provide a vehicle detection system capable of detecting a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of an own vehicle based on a position of an object by using an electromagnetic wave sensor while suppressing erroneous detection, an ECU determines if first and second positions detected by a millimeter wave radar are included in the same vehicle. The ECU designates calculated information of the preceding vehicle detected based on the first position as a calculation result if it determines that detection of the preceding vehicle is made based on the first position. The ECU uses calculated information of the preceding vehicle detected based on the second position as the calculation result when it determines that detection of the vehicle is not made based on the first position but the first and the second positions had been determined in the past as detected in the same vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Michihiro Kuroki, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Hiroshi Yamada, Naoki Kusumoto
  • Patent number: 11068735
    Abstract: A reliability calculation apparatus calculates a reliability of a recognized object that is recognized as being present on a route on which a vehicle travels. The reliability of the recognized object is used for driving control of the vehicle. In the reliability calculation apparatus, a provisional reliability calculating unit determines a feature quantity of each of a plurality of recognized objects, selects a plurality of pairs of recognized objects from the plurality of recognized objects, determines a difference in feature quantity of each pair of recognized objects, and calculates a reliability that decreases as the difference in feature quantity increases as a provisional reliability of each pair of recognized objects. An integrated reliability calculating unit calculates an integrated reliability of each recognized object from the provisional reliabilities of the plurality of pairs of recognized objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaya Okada, Shunya Kumano, Hiroaki Niino, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Takumi Uematsu
  • Patent number: 11042759
    Abstract: A roadside object recognition apparatus recognizes a roadside object that is present on a travel route on which an own vehicle travels. The roadside object is used for driving control of the vehicle. In the roadside object recognition apparatus, a reflection point acquiring unit acquires, using a radar that emits electromagnetic waves, a reflection-point group of reflection points of the electromagnetic waves reflected by an object that is present on the travel route. An image acquiring unit acquires an image of the travel route using a camera. A reflection point correcting unit corrects the reflection-point group by removing an erroneous reflection point that is determined to be highly likely not to be a reflection point of a roadside object from the reflection-point group through image processing of the image. A shape recognizing unit recognizes a shape of the roadside object using the corrected reflection-point group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaya Okada, Shunya Kumano, Takumi Uematsu, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa
  • Patent number: 11021155
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus performs during-following control in which, when a direction indicator of an own vehicle is operated during traveling in which a preceding vehicle is followed, the own vehicle is accelerated in conjunction with the operation of the direction indicator. An adjacent vehicle selecting unit selects, from other vehicles present ahead of the own vehicle, an adjacent vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane adjacent to a traveling lane of the own vehicle based on a lateral position that is a relative position relative to the own vehicle in a direction orthogonal to a travelling direction of the own vehicle and a relative distance to the own vehicle in the travelling direction. An acceleration control unit performs acceleration of the own vehicle by the during-following control based on whether or not the adjacent vehicle is selected when the direction indicator is operated during following-traveling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Takuma Sudo, Takashi Maeda, Takeshi Nanami, Minoru Nakadori
  • Publication number: 20210114595
    Abstract: In a vehicle control apparatus, an entry determiner determines, while one of the following traveling mode and the constant-speed traveling mode is performed by the vehicle control apparatus, whether an entry condition is satisfied in response to determination that there is at least one other crossing vehicle. The entry condition enables the at least one other crossing vehicle to cross in front of the own vehicle to thereafter enter the enterable space without colliding with the own vehicle. An autonomous driving controller switches, upon the entry condition being determined to be satisfied, the performed one of the following traveling mode and the constant-speed traveling mode to a crossing mode that controls traveling of the own vehicle to ensure a predetermined space in front of the own vehicle. The predetermined space enables the at least one other crossing vehicle to cross in front of the own vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Publication date: April 22, 2021
    Inventors: Takumi UEMATSU, Mitsuhiro TOKIMASA, Michihiro KUROKI
  • Publication number: 20210107482
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus performs a following travel mode in which an own vehicle travels while following a followed vehicle ahead of the own vehicle. The apparatus includes a surrounding object detection section that acquires detection information regarding a surrounding object, a space determination section that uses the detection information to determine presence/absence of a free space located laterally to an own lane, a setting condition determination section that determines whether a first other vehicle having entered the own lane from the free space or a second other vehicle traveling ahead of a preceding vehicle having entered the free space from the own lane meets a setting condition for setting the first or second other vehicle as the followed vehicle, and an automated driving control section that sets the first or second other vehicle as the followed vehicle to perform the following travel mode if the setting condition is met.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Publication date: April 15, 2021
    Inventors: Takumi UEMATSU, Mitsuhiro TOKIMASA, Michihiro KUROKI
  • Publication number: 20210094548
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus includes an intersection information detection section that detects information on an intersection, and includes a traveling route detection section that detects a traveling route of the vehicle and a cross road detection section that detects a cross road intersecting the traveling route, an operation detection section that detects a plan of operation of the vehicle at the intersection, a waiting position setting section that sets a waiting position where the vehicle is caused to wait at the intersection until the vehicle becomes possible to perform the operation, and a determination section that determines whether the vehicle can perform the operation by the time a traffic light on the traveling route at the intersection turns red. The waiting position setting section sets a position, where another vehicle is not hindered from traveling on the crossing road by the vehicle stopped at the waiting position, as the waiting position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Inventors: Yuta KOMOGUCHI, Yohei MASUI, Mitsuhiro TOKIMASA, Takumi UEMATSU
  • Patent number: 10766488
    Abstract: A driving control device has a target-following driving control part performing a target-following driving control of a preceding vehicle in front of a vehicle, and a target acceleration setting part setting a target acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle to maintain a inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle within a target inter-vehicle distance during the target-following driving control. The target acceleration setting part increases the target deceleration of the vehicle according to increasing of a difference between the inter-vehicle distance and the target inter-vehicle distance. A deceleration correction part increases the target deceleration when a period during which the preceding vehicle has been continuously recognized is more than a predetermined period and the inter-vehicle distance is less than a predetermined distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Takuma Sudo, Takashi Maeda, Naoki Kusumoto
  • Publication number: 20200256981
    Abstract: To provide a vehicle detection system capable of detecting a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of an own vehicle based on a position of an object by using an electromagnetic wave sensor while suppressing erroneous detection, an ECU determines if first and second positions detected by a millimeter wave radar are included in the same vehicle. The ECU designates calculated information of the preceding vehicle detected based on the first position as a calculation result if it determines that detection of the preceding vehicle is made based on the first position. The ECU uses calculated information of the preceding vehicle detected based on the second position as the calculation result when it determines that detection of the vehicle is not made based on the first position but the first and the second positions had been determined in the past as detected in the same vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2020
    Publication date: August 13, 2020
    Inventors: Michihiro KUROKI, Mitsuhiro TOKIMASA, Hiroshi YAMADA, Naoki KUSUMOTO
  • Patent number: 10611240
    Abstract: A cruise control apparatus controls travel of an own vehicle based on a predicted course which is a future travel course of the own vehicle. The cruise control apparatus includes a first predicted course calculating unit and a second predicted course calculating unit, as a plurality of course prediction means for calculating a predicted course, and is provided with a course change determination unit for determining whether a change in the course is to be performed and a prediction switching unit which performs switching to enable one of a first predicted course calculated by the first predicted course calculating unit and a second predicted course calculated by the second predicted course calculation unit, the switching being based on a result of determination made by the course change determination unit as to whether a change in the course is to be performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Youhei Masui, Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Toyoharu Katsukura, Takeshi Nanami, Takashi Nishida
  • Publication number: 20200001875
    Abstract: In an apparatus for assisting a turn of a vehicle at an intersection, a turn-signal state detection unit is configured to detect an operating state of a turn signal of the vehicle. A road information detection unit is configured to detect road information that is information regarding a road on which the vehicle is traveling. A determination unit is configured to, using at least one of the detected operating state of the turn signal and the detected road information, determine whether or not the vehicle will make a turn at the intersection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2019
    Publication date: January 2, 2020
    Inventors: Kenji KATO, Yohei MASUI, Mitsuhiro TOKIMASA, Yuta KOMOGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20190315355
    Abstract: A cruise control device applied to a vehicle including a target detection unit and including a following control unit includes a determination unit configured to determine, during the period of execution of following control, whether a small vehicle switching state in which a following target is a small vehicle has occurred or not, an upper limit storage unit configured to store, as an upper limit value, a target acceleration set before determination as the small vehicle switching state by the determination unit under a condition where the determination unit determines that the small vehicle switching state has occurred, and a target acceleration setting unit configured to set the target acceleration to equal to or lower than the upper limit value stored in the upper limit storage unit during a period until the following control performed for the switched small vehicle as the following target ends.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2019
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro TOKIMASA, Takuma SUDO, Takashi MAEDA, Naoki KUSUMOTO
  • Patent number: 10427689
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus mounted to an own vehicle to control the own vehicle according to the position of other vehicle ahead of the own vehicle is provided. The apparatus includes a setting means setting a parameter indicating whether the other vehicle is in the path of the own vehicle, based on the position of the other vehicle relative to the own vehicle in a lateral direction perpendicular to the path of the own vehicle, a determining means determining whether the other vehicle is in the path of the own vehicle, based on the parameter, an acquisition means acquiring a lane width that is the width of the lane the own vehicle is traveling, and an adjustment means changing the correspondence between the relative position and the parameter, based on the lane width.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Toyoharu Katsukura, Yoshihisa Ogata, Youhei Masui, Taku Sakima, Takeshi Nanami, Takashi Nishida
  • Patent number: 10407066
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus mounted to an own vehicle to control the own vehicle according to a position of other vehicle ahead of the own vehicle is provided. The device includes a setting means setting a parameter indicating a position of the other vehicle relative to the own vehicle in a lateral direction perpendicular to the path of the own vehicle, a determination means determining whether the other vehicle is in the path of the own vehicle based on the parameter, a detection means detecting whether a relative movement has been made in the lateral direction by at least one of the own vehicle and the other vehicle, and a correction means correcting the parameter when a relative movement has been made in the lateral direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Tokimasa, Toyoharu Katsukura, Yoshihisa Ogata, Youhei Masui, Taku Sakima, Takeshi Nanami, Takashi Nishida
  • Publication number: 20190263402
    Abstract: A traveling control apparatus performs a target-following control process on a target to be followed detected by a target detecting unit. Further, the traveling control apparatus calculates a probability that the target to be followed is within an own lane, and determines whether a degree of recognition by the target detecting unit of the target to be followed is in a weakly recognized state where the degree of recognition is weaker than a predetermined degree. The apparatus sets a reliability of the target to be followed on the basis of the probability calculated by a probability calculating process and a determination result by a determining process, and controls acceleration of an own vehicle so that a jerk which is a differential value of the acceleration becomes smaller as the reliability of the target to be followed is lower while the target-following control process is performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2019
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro TOKIMASA, Takuma SUDO, Takashi MAEDA, Naoki KUSUMOTO