DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McNew (U.S. 2021/0009133A1) in view of Fujii (U.S. 2020/0247400A1).
McNew discloses “Systems and methods are provided for creating more organic lane change models for autonomous or semi-autonomous operation of a vehicle. A plurality of data associated with a plurality of driver-performed lane change maneuvers is collected from a plurality of different vehicle. Driver-performed lane change maneuvers are discarded when determined to fall outside a threshold of safety. A generic model is generated from the non-discarded data for average lane change maneuvers. Specific models can be generated for different drivers, vehicle types, and other metrics by comparison with the generic model.” (Abstract) and “As discussed in greater detail below, embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure collects a large amount of sensor and contextual data from a multitude of vehicle and driver types to generate a reasonably accurate model of how an average driver would perform a lane change operation in a given scenario. The data can be collected through a supervision or monitoring mode of the vehicles, collecting and associating a plurality of data types with each driver-performed lane change operation. This data may include both external and internal sensor data, providing context for the lane change operation.” (¶0017) and “Vehicle 102 can have one or more operational modes, one or more of which can be configured to record data associated with driver performance. As a non-limiting example, vehicle 102 may have a manual operational mode wherein all navigation and/or maneuvering is performed by a human driver, regardless of warning or intervention systems (e.g., Level 0 (L0) as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTS)). As another example, vehicle 102 may have a conditional automation mode where a portion of the navigation and/or maneuvering of the vehicle along a travel route is performed by one or more computing systems of vehicle 102, and another portion is performed by a human driver (e.g., Levels 2 (L2) and/or Level 1 (L1) as defined by NHTS. As another example, in a monitored autonomous mode, where one or more computing systems are used to navigate and/or maneuver the vehicle with at least some human driver supervision required (e.g., Level 3 (L3) as defined by NHTS). Another example is a high automation mode, wherein one or more computing systems are used to navigate and/or maneuver a vehicle regardless of whether a human driver responds appropriately to a request to intervene (e.g., Level 4 (L4) as defined by NHTS). In these modes, driver-performed lane change operations may be monitored and the associated sensor data collected for use in modelling autonomous lane change operations when vehicle 102 operates in a full automation mode, wherein all operations are performed by without any expectation of driver input (e.g., Level 5 (L5) as defined by NHTS). “(¶0033). Additionally, Fig. 1 and 2 disclose a vehicle which is both manually driven by a driver and operated autonomously based on the data collected during manual driving by the driver in order to perform lane change maneuvers “in a manner more similar to that of a human driver”. (¶0050).
Regarding Claim 1, McNew discloses: A vehicle driving assistance apparatus (Fig. 1-4; “a autonomous driving system 200”; ¶0036), comprising an electronic control unit (Fig. 2; ¶0036; “Lane change modelling circuit 210 can be implemented as an ECU or as part of an ECU such as, for example electronic control unit 50.”) which executes a lane change control of autonomously performing a lane change of an own vehicle (¶0033), the electronic control unit being configured to:
acquire actual lane change characteristics during a manual lane change period, the manual lane change period being a period of time when an operator of the own vehicle carries out a manual lane change of manually changing lanes of the own vehicle, the actual lane change characteristics being characteristics relating to the manual lane change (Fig. 4, step 402; ¶0068; “At operation 402 a plurality of data associated with driver-performed lane change maneuvers is collected. Collecting the plurality of data can be performed as discussed above with respect to network interface 301 of FIG. 3, and the plurality of data can comprise the sensor data and other information discussed above with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.”);
and perform an autonomous lane change of changing lanes of the own vehicle by the lane change control in accordance with target lane change characteristics set based on the actual lane change characteristics (¶0033; “driver-performed lane change operations may be monitored and the associated sensor data collected for use in modelling autonomous lane change operations when vehicle 102 operates in a full automation mode, wherein all operations are performed by without any expectation of driver input (e.g., Level 5 (L5) as defined by NHTS).”,
wherein the electronic control unit is configured to: acquire, as the actual lane change characteristics (¶0052; “As discussed above, lane change modelling system 300 uses as an input data for driver-performed lane change operations collected from a variety of sensors and other information sources. “and ¶0036, ¶0046-0048; example data acquired during driver-performed lane change operations includes: “Sensors 52 can include additional sensors that may or not otherwise be included on a standard vehicle 10 with autonomous driving system 200 is implemented. In the illustrated example, sensors 52 include vehicle acceleration sensors 212 (e.g., speedometer), vehicle speed sensors 214, wheelspin sensors 216 (e.g., one for each wheel), a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) 220, accelerometers such as a 3-axis accelerometer 222 to detect roll, pitch and yaw of the vehicle (e.g., a gyroscope, accelerator, inertial measurement unit, or any other sensor for sensing position and orientation of vehicle 102), driver input sensors 224 (e.g., steering wheel inputs), left-right and front-rear slip ratio sensors 226, environmental sensors 228 (e.g., to detect salinity or other environmental conditions), and road condition sensors 232 (e.g., surface conditions, traffic level, etc.). Environmental sensors 122 can be configured to acquire, detect, determine, assess, monitor, measure, quantify, and/or sense driving environment data, including but not limited to data or information about the external environment in which vehicle 102 is located, objects within said environment (stationary and/or dynamic), lane markers, signs, traffic lights, traffic signs, lane lines, crosswalks, curbs proximate to vehicle 102, among others. “ ¶0047 AND “electronic control unit 50 receives information from a plurality of sensors included in vehicle 102. For example, electronic control unit 50 may receive signals that indicate vehicle operating conditions or characteristics, or signals that can be used to derive vehicle operating conditions or characteristics. These may include, but are not limited to accelerator operation amount, A.sub.CC, a revolution speed, N.sub.E, of internal combustion engine 14 (engine RPM), a rotational speed, N.sub.MS, of the motor 22 (motor rotational speed), and vehicle speed, N.sub.V. These may also include torque converter 16 output, N.sub.T (e.g., output amps indicative of motor output), brake operation amount/pressure, B, battery SOC (i.e., the charged amount for battery 44 detected by an SOC sensor). Accordingly, vehicle 102 can include a plurality of sensors 52 that can be used to detect various conditions internal or external to the vehicle and provide sensed conditions to engine control unit 50 (which, again, may be implemented as one or a plurality of individual control circuits). Non-limiting examples of the various internal or external conditions may include, but is not limited to, road conditions, weather, vehicles in proximity to vehicle 102, number of occupants, speed of vehicles in proximity to vehicle 102, location of vehicle 102 on the road, among other conditions. In some embodiments, sensors 52 may be included to detect one or more conditions directly or indirectly such as, for example, fuel efficiency, E.sub.F, motor efficiency, E.sub.MG, hybrid (internal combustion engine 14+MG 12) efficiency, acceleration, A.sub.CC, etc. In various embodiments, vehicle 102 can include a plurality of sensors 52 that can be used to detect various driver actions, including but not limited to driver-monitoring cameras, steering wheel inputs, directional signaling controls, and other sensors 52 configured to detect driver actions.”; ¶0030).
McNew discloses all the elements of claim 1 wherein driver performed lane change characteristics/data are acquired for use when the vehicle is operating to perform autonomous lane changes but does not explicitly disclose acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising: (i) an actual required time and (ii) an actual maximum lateral speed, the actual required time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator brings a state of the own vehicle into a first state to a point of time when the operator brings the state of the own vehicle into a second state other than the first state, and the actual maximum lateral speed being a maximum value of a lateral speed which is a moving speed of the own vehicle in a lateral direction of the own vehicle; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target required time based on the actual required time and (ii) a target maximum lateral speed based on the actual maximum lateral speed, the target required time being a target period of time from a point of time when the electronic control unit brings the state of the own vehicle into the first state to a point of time when the electronic control unit brings the state of the own vehicle into the second state, and the target maximum lateral speed being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral speed.
Fujii teaches: (i) an actual required time (Fig. 10, ¶0159; “which is a target value of the time for executing the LCA (time from the start of the LCA until the LCA completion point) (referred to as target lane change time).”) and (ii) an actual maximum lateral speed (Fig. 10, ¶0157; “P5. Target speed of the own vehicle in the lateral direction when the LCA is complete (referred to as final target lateral speed)”)., the actual required time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator brings a state of the own vehicle into a first state to a point of time when the operator brings the state of the own vehicle into a second state other than the first state, and the actual maximum lateral speed being a maximum value of a lateral speed which is a moving speed of the own vehicle in a lateral direction of the own vehicle; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target required time based on the actual required time and (ii) a target maximum lateral speed based on the actual maximum lateral speed, the target required time being a target period of time from a point of time when the electronic control unit brings the state of the own vehicle into the first state to a point of time when the electronic control unit brings the state of the own vehicle into the second state, and the target maximum lateral speed being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral speed; in order that the lane change assist device that is capable of executing a lane change assist control for supporting a steering operation to make an automatic lane change has available the lane change characteristics and data necessary to properly execute lane changes that are more representative of actual driver-performed lane change operations.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to have modified the autonomous vehicle lane change control system of McNew to incorporate the teachings of Fujii to include acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising: (i) an actual required time and (ii) an actual maximum lateral speed, the actual required time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator brings a state of the own vehicle into a first state to a point of time when the operator brings the state of the own vehicle into a second state other than the first state, and the actual maximum lateral speed being a maximum value of a lateral speed which is a moving speed of the own vehicle in a lateral direction of the own vehicle; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target required time based on the actual required time and (ii) a target maximum lateral speed based on the actual maximum lateral speed, the target required time being a target period of time from a point of time when the electronic control unit brings the state of the own vehicle into the first state to a point of time when the electronic control unit brings the state of the own vehicle into the second state, and the target maximum lateral speed being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral speed in order that the lane change assist device that is capable of executing a lane change assist control for supporting a steering operation to make an automatic lane change has available the lane change characteristics and data necessary to properly execute lane changes that are more representative of actual driver-performed lane change operations.
Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McNew (U.S. 2021/0009133A1) in view of Fujii (U.S. 2020/0247400A1) in view of Matsumoto (U.S. 20160225261).
Matsumoto discloses “A drive assistance apparatus includes a target trajectory setting unit configured to set a target trajectory in a lane change assistance based on a movement time taken for a vehicle of which the direction indicator is continued to be in ON-state to move a lateral distance set in advance to the adjacent lane side from an operation start lateral position, and a lane change assistance unit configured to execute the lane change assistance for causing the vehicle to change lane along the target trajectory in a case where the lateral position of the vehicle of which the direction indicator is continued to be in ON-state reaches the assistance start lateral position set in advance in the travelling lane from the setting of the target trajectory by the target trajectory setting unit.” (Abstract).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of McNew and Fujii teach all the elements of Claim 1 as indicated above. McNew discloses all the elements of claim 1 wherein driver performed lane change characteristics/data are acquired for use when the vehicle is operating to perform autonomous lane changes but does not explicitly disclose acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising: wherein the electronic control unit is configured to:
acquire, as the actual lane change characteristics, an actual maximum lateral speed reaching time, the actual maximum lateral speed reaching time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the lateral speed reaches a maximum lateral speed; set, as the target lane change characteristics, a target maximum lateral speed reaching time, the target maximum lateral speed reaching time being a target period of time from a point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the lateral speed to reach the maximum lateral speed.
Matsumoto teaches: an actual maximum lateral speed reaching time (¶0123; Fig. 9; “a time taken for the vehicle M of which the direction indicator is continued to be in ON-state to move the lateral distance H from target lateral position G to the adjacent lane R2 side as the movement time.”) , the actual maximum lateral speed reaching time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the lateral speed reaches a maximum lateral speed; set, as the target lane change characteristics, a target maximum lateral speed reaching time, the target maximum lateral speed reaching time being a target period of time from a point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the lateral speed to reach the maximum lateral speed.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to have modified the autonomous vehicle lane change control system of McNew to incorporate the teachings of Matsumoto to include acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising an actual maximum lateral speed reaching time, the actual maximum lateral speed reaching time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the lateral speed reaches a maximum lateral speed; set, as the target lane change characteristics, a target maximum lateral speed reaching time, the target maximum lateral speed reaching time being a target period of time from a point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the lateral speed to reach the maximum lateral speed in order that the lane change assist device that is capable of executing a lane change assist control for supporting a steering operation to make an automatic lane change has available the lane change characteristics and data necessary to properly execute lane changes that are more representative of actual driver-performed lane change operations.
Claim(s) 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McNew (U.S. 2021/0009133A1) in view of Fujii (U.S. 2020/0247400A1) in view of Kimura et al. (U.S. 2021/0064891).
Kimura discloses a system configured to acquire data related to lane change maneuvers. Specifically, “Examples of the avoidance behavior include a behavior of the vehicle 50 to temporarily move from an original lane across the centerline of the road or a lane marking (or to change the lane) and to return to the original lane, a behavior of the vehicle 50 to move across the centerline of the road or a lane marking without any operation of a direction indicator and a behavior of the vehicle 50 to quickly decelerate or to suddenly stop. The determination of whether each vehicle 50 takes an avoidance behavior in the target section may be performed by using, for example, an average value and a maximum value of a variation per unit time of each vehicle 50 in the target section with regard to at least one of the vehicle speed, the wheel speed, the longitudinal acceleration, the lateral acceleration, the yaw rate, the yaw angle, the roll angle, the pitch angle, and the tire slip ratio or by using an image taken by a camera in the target section.” (¶0095).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of McNew and Fujii teach all the elements of Claim 1 as indicated above. McNew discloses all the elements of claim 1 wherein driver performed lane change characteristics/data are acquired for use when the vehicle is operating to perform autonomous lane changes but does not explicitly disclose acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising (i) an actual maximum lateral acceleration rate and (ii) an actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient, the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate being a maximum value of a lateral acceleration rate which is an acceleration rate of the own vehicle in the lateral direction, and the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient being a maximum value of a lateral acceleration rate gradient which is a rate of change of the acceleration rate of the own vehicle; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target maximum lateral acceleration rate based on the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate and (ii) a target maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient based on the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient, the target maximum lateral acceleration rate being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral acceleration rate, and the target maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral acceleration rate gradient.
Kimura teaches (i) an actual maximum lateral acceleration rate (¶0095; “an average value and a maximum value of a variation per unit time of each vehicle 50 in the target section with regard to at least one of the vehicle speed, the wheel speed, the longitudinal acceleration, the lateral acceleration”; taking an average value implicitly includes taking a maximum value) and (ii) an actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient rate (¶0095; “an average value and a maximum value of a variation per unit time of each vehicle 50 in the target section with regard to at least one of the vehicle speed, the wheel speed, the longitudinal acceleration, the lateral acceleration”), the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate being a maximum value of a lateral acceleration rate which is an acceleration rate of the own vehicle in the lateral direction, and the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient being a maximum value of a lateral acceleration rate gradient which is a rate of change of the acceleration rate of the own vehicle; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target maximum lateral acceleration rate based on the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate and (ii) a target maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient based on the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient, the target maximum lateral acceleration rate being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral acceleration rate, and the target maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral acceleration rate gradient
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to have modified the autonomous vehicle lane change control system of McNew to incorporate the teachings of Kimura to include acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising (i) an actual maximum lateral acceleration rate and (ii) an actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient, the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate being a maximum value of a lateral acceleration rate which is an acceleration rate of the own vehicle in the lateral direction, and the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient being a maximum value of a lateral acceleration rate gradient which is a rate of change of the acceleration rate of the own vehicle; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target maximum lateral acceleration rate based on the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate and (ii) a target maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient based on the actual maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient, the target maximum lateral acceleration rate being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral acceleration rate, and the target maximum lateral acceleration rate gradient being a target value of the maximum value of the lateral acceleration rate gradient in order that the lane change assist device that is capable of executing a lane change assist control for supporting a steering operation to make an automatic lane change has available the lane change characteristics and data necessary to properly execute lane changes that are more representative of actual driver-performed lane change operations.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of McNew and Fujii teach all the elements of Claim 1 as indicated above. McNew discloses all the elements of claim 1 wherein driver performed lane change characteristics/data are acquired for use when the vehicle is operating to perform autonomous lane changes but does not explicitly disclose acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising (i) an actual lateral speed changing profile, (ii) an actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile, and (iii) an actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile, the actual lateral speed changing profile being a trajectory of the lateral speed which changes during the manual lane change period, the actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile being a trajectory of a lateral acceleration rate which is an acceleration rate of the own vehicle in the lateral direction and changes during the manual lane change period, and the actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile being a trajectory of a lateral acceleration rate gradient which is a rate of change of the acceleration rate of the own vehicle and changes during the manual lane change period; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target lateral speed changing profile based on the actual lateral speed changing profile, (ii) a target lateral acceleration rate changing profile based on the actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile, and (iii) a target lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile based on the actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile, the target lateral speed changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral speed to be changed by the lane change control, the target lateral acceleration rate changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral acceleration rate to be changed by the lane change control, and the target lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral acceleration rate gradient to be changed by the lane change control
Fuji teaches: (i) an actual lateral speed changing profile ((Fig. 10, ¶0157; “P5. Target speed of the own vehicle in the lateral direction when the LCA is complete (referred to as final target lateral speed)”)
Kimura teaches: , (ii) an actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile (¶0095; “an average value and a maximum value of a variation per unit time of each vehicle 50 in the target section with regard to at least one of the vehicle speed, the wheel speed, the longitudinal acceleration, the lateral acceleration”; taking an average value implicitly includes taking a maximum value), and (iii) an actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile (¶0095; “an average value and a maximum value of a variation per unit time of each vehicle 50 in the target section with regard to at least one of the vehicle speed, the wheel speed, the longitudinal acceleration, the lateral acceleration”),, the actual lateral speed changing profile being a trajectory of the lateral speed which changes during the manual lane change period, the actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile being a trajectory of a lateral acceleration rate which is an acceleration rate of the own vehicle in the lateral direction and changes during the manual lane change period, and the actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile being a trajectory of a lateral acceleration rate gradient which is a rate of change of the acceleration rate of the own vehicle and changes during the manual lane change period; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target lateral speed changing profile based on the actual lateral speed changing profile, (ii) a target lateral acceleration rate changing profile based on the actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile, and (iii) a target lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile based on the actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile, the target lateral speed changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral speed to be changed by the lane change control, the target lateral acceleration rate changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral acceleration rate to be changed by the lane change control, and the target lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral acceleration rate gradient to be changed by the lane change control.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to have modified the autonomous vehicle lane change control system of McNew to incorporate the teachings of Fujii and Kimura to include acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising (i) an actual lateral speed changing profile, (ii) an actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile, and (iii) an actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile, the actual lateral speed changing profile being a trajectory of the lateral speed which changes during the manual lane change period, the actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile being a trajectory of a lateral acceleration rate which is an acceleration rate of the own vehicle in the lateral direction and changes during the manual lane change period, and the actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile being a trajectory of a lateral acceleration rate gradient which is a rate of change of the acceleration rate of the own vehicle and changes during the manual lane change period; and set, as the target lane change characteristics, (i) a target lateral speed changing profile based on the actual lateral speed changing profile, (ii) a target lateral acceleration rate changing profile based on the actual lateral acceleration rate changing profile, and (iii) a target lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile based on the actual lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile, the target lateral speed changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral speed to be changed by the lane change control, the target lateral acceleration rate changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral acceleration rate to be changed by the lane change control, and the target lateral acceleration rate gradient changing profile being a trajectory of a target value of the lateral acceleration rate gradient to be changed by the lane change control in order that the lane change assist device that is capable of executing a lane change assist control for supporting a steering operation to make an automatic lane change has available the lane change characteristics and data necessary to properly execute lane changes that are more representative of actual driver-performed lane change operations.
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McNew (U.S. 2021/0009133A1) in view of Fujii (U.S. 2020/0247400A1) in view of Hayakawa et al. (U.S. 2012/0265431).
Hayakawa discloses “The present invention relates to a driving control device for avoiding contact with a side object when a vehicle moves sideways to change lanes or do the like.” (¶0001) and “At step S13, a determination is made as to whether or not the future lateral position Xf is larger than the current lateral position Xe, that is, whether or not the future lateral position that is the lateral position of the vehicle after the lapse of the frontward watch time Tt has crossed over the white line. When a determined result is that Xf is larger than Xe (Xf>Xe), a determination is made that the vehicle has started changing lane” (¶0061; “At step S14, a determination is made as to whether or not the setting time Tth has elapsed since the instant when the future lateral position crossed over the white line. Here, when a determined result is that the setting time Tth has elapsed, a determination is made that the vehicle has started entering the adjacent lane” (¶0062), and “When a predetermined time (for example, about 2 seconds) elapses since the instant when a determination has been made that the vehicle started entering the adjacent lane, the vehicle can be judged as having almost finished changing lanes.” (¶0066)
Regarding Claim 5, McNew discloses all the elements of claim 1 wherein driver performed lane change characteristics/data are acquired for use when the vehicle is operating to perform autonomous lane changes but does not explicitly disclose acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising (i) an actual lateral movement start time, (ii) an actual crossing start time, and (iii) an actual crossing finishing time, the actual lateral movement start time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator starts to carry out an operation indicating an intension to carry out the manual lane change to a point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction, the actual crossing start time being a period of time from the point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the own vehicle starts to cross a lane marking, and the actual crossing finishing time being a period of time from the point of time when the own vehicle starts to cross the lane marking to a point of time when the own vehicle finishes crossing the lane marking; and set, as the target required time, (i) a target lateral movement start time based on the actual lateral movement start time, (ii) a target crossing start time based on the actual crossing start time, and (iii) a target crossing finishing time based on the actual crossing finishing time, the target lateral movement start time being a target period of time from a point of time when the operator carries out an operation of requesting an execution of the lane change control to a point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction, the target crossing start time being a target period of time from the point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to start to cross the lane marking, and the target crossing finishing time being a target period of time from the point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to start to cross the lane marking to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to finish crossing the lane marking
Hayakawa teaches: (i) an actual lateral movement start time (¶0061), (ii) an actual crossing start time (¶0062), and (iii) an actual crossing finishing time (¶0066), the actual lateral movement start time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator starts to carry out an operation indicating an intension to carry out the manual lane change to a point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction, the actual crossing start time being a period of time from the point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the own vehicle starts to cross a lane marking, and the actual crossing finishing time being a period of time from the point of time when the own vehicle starts to cross the lane marking to a point of time when the own vehicle finishes crossing the lane marking; and set, as the target required time, (i) a target lateral movement start time based on the actual lateral movement start time, (ii) a target crossing start time based on the actual crossing start time, and (iii) a target crossing finishing time based on the actual crossing finishing time, the target lateral movement start time being a target period of time from a point of time when the operator carries out an operation of requesting an execution of the lane change control to a point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction, the target crossing start time being a target period of time from the point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to start to cross the lane marking, and the target crossing finishing time being a target period of time from the point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to start to cross the lane marking to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to finish crossing the lane marking
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to have modified the autonomous vehicle lane change control system of McNew to incorporate the teachings of Hayakawa to include acquiring some specific driver performed lane change characteristics comprising (i) an actual lateral movement start time, (ii) an actual crossing start time, and (iii) an actual crossing finishing time, the actual lateral movement start time being a period of time from a point of time when the operator starts to carry out an operation indicating an intension to carry out the manual lane change to a point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction, the actual crossing start time being a period of time from the point of time when the operator starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the own vehicle starts to cross a lane marking, and the actual crossing finishing time being a period of time from the point of time when the own vehicle starts to cross the lane marking to a point of time when the own vehicle finishes crossing the lane marking; and set, as the target required time, (i) a target lateral movement start time based on the actual lateral movement start time, (ii) a target crossing start time based on the actual crossing start time, and (iii) a target crossing finishing time based on the actual crossing finishing time, the target lateral movement start time being a target period of time from a point of time when the operator carries out an operation of requesting an execution of the lane change control to a point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction, the target crossing start time being a target period of time from the point of time when the electronic control unit starts to move the own vehicle in the lateral direction to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to start to cross the lane marking, and the target crossing finishing time being a target period of time from the point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to start to cross the lane marking to a point of time when the electronic control unit causes the own vehicle to finish crossing the lane marking in order that the lane change assist device that is capable of executing a lane change assist control for supporting a steering operation to make an automatic lane change has available the lane change characteristics and data necessary to properly execute lane changes that are more representative of actual driver-performed lane change operations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhou et al. (U.S. 20190187706A1) discloses “The present teaching relates to method, system, medium, and implementation of human-like vehicle control for an autonomous vehicle. Information related to a target motion to be achieved by the autonomous vehicle is received, wherein the information includes a current vehicle state of the autonomous vehicle. A first vehicle control signal is generated with respect to the target motion and the given vehicle state in accordance with a vehicle kinematic model. A second vehicle control signal is generated in accordance with a human-like vehicle control model, with respect to the target motion, the given vehicle state, and the first vehicle control signal, wherein the second vehicle control signal modifies the first vehicle control signal to achieve human-like vehicle control behavior.” (Abstract)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN R KIRBY whose telephone number is (571)270-3665. The examiner can normally be reached Telework: M-F, 9a-5p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay Low can be reached at 571-272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRIAN R KIRBY/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LINDSAY M LOW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747