Navigation lane guidance

• US 10,139,242 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2018
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Woolley, Seth Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Ingram, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US15/976,741
• Publication Number:
  US 20180259355A1
• Time in Patent Office: 201 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3658 Lane guidance

Abstract

A navigation system provides lane guidance for a navigation route. The navigation route specifies actions for a user to navigate a route from an originating point to a destination along a set of road segments. The lane guidance at a position along the navigation route scores the lanes and provides the lane scoring for the user. To score the lanes, the navigation system determines a lane distance for each lane indicating how far along the navigation route a user may continue to use this lane, without shifting to another lane. The lane distance may be measured up to a look-ahead distance. The lane distance includes distance along subsequent road segments of the route, such that when a lane turns onto a lane on another road segment according to the navigation route, the distance along the other road may be included in the lane distance.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a navigation route including a plurality of road segments and a set of actions for transitioning to a subsequent road segment from a prior road segment of the plurality of road segments;

determining a position of a vehicle on a current road segment of the plurality of road segments based on signals from a location positioning sensor on the vehicle;

for each of a plurality of lanes of the current road segment, determining a score for the lane based at least in part on an estimated level of traffic of the lane along a maximum value of a look-ahead distance that the lane continues on the navigation route, the look-ahead distance including additional distance from the position to be traveled on one or more road segments subsequent to the current road segment as indicated by the set of actions; and

selecting a lane of the plurality of lanes for the vehicle to travel in based on the scores.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the score comprises:

responsive to determining that the lane merges with another lane along the current road segment, increasing the estimated level of traffic for the lane.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the score comprises:

responsive to determining that the lane splits into at least one other lane along the current road segment, decreasing the estimated level of traffic for the lane.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the score is determined further based on a type of the vehicle or a type of the lane.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the type of the vehicle is a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) or a truck, and wherein the type of lane is a HOV lane or a designated truck lane.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a different vehicle is on the current road segment; and

responsive to determining that a difference between at least two of the scores is within a threshold, selecting a different lane of the plurality of lanes for the different vehicle to travel in.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining that the difference between the at least two of the scores is within the threshold for at least a certain amount of time or a certain distance along the current road segment.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a difference between scores for two or more lanes of the plurality of lanes is within a threshold value; and

responsive to determining that one of the two or more lanes was previously selected for a different vehicle, selecting a different one of the two or more lanes as the selected lane for the vehicle to travel in.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determine a navigation route including a plurality of road segments and a set of actions for transitioning to a subsequent road segment from a prior road segment of the plurality of road segments;

determine a position of a vehicle on a current road segment of the plurality of road segments based on signals from a location positioning sensor on the vehicle;

for each of a plurality of lanes of the current road segment, determine a score for the lane based at least in part on an estimated level of traffic of the lane along a maximum value of a look-ahead distance that the lane continues on the navigation route, the look-ahead distance including additional distance from the position to be traveled on one or more road segments subsequent to the current road segment as indicated by the set of actions; and

select a lane of the plurality of lanes for the vehicle to travel in based on the scores.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein determining the score comprises:

responsive to determining that the lane merges with another lane along the current road segment, increasing the estimated level of traffic for the lane.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein determining the score comprises:

responsive to determining that the lane splits into at least one other lane along the current road segment, decreasing the estimated level of traffic for the lane.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the score is determined further based on a type of the vehicle or a type of the lane.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the type of the vehicle is a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) or a truck, and wherein the type of lane is a HOV lane or a designated truck lane.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, comprising further instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determine that a different vehicle is on the current road segment; and

responsive to determining that a difference between at least two of the scores is within a threshold, select a different lane of the plurality of lanes for the different vehicle to travel in.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, comprising further instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determine that the difference between the at least two of the scores is within the threshold for at least a certain amount of time or a certain distance along the current road segment.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, comprising further instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determine that a difference between scores for two or more lanes of the plurality of lanes is within a threshold value; and

responsive to determining that one of the two or more lanes was previously selected for a different vehicle, select a different one of the two or more lanes as the selected lane for the vehicle to travel in.

17. A system comprising:

a location positioning sensor on a vehicle; and

one or more processors configured to;

determine a navigation route including a plurality of road segments and a set of actions for transitioning to a subsequent road segment from a prior road segment of the plurality of road segments;

determine a position of the vehicle on a current road segment of the plurality of road segments based on signals from the location positioning sensor on the vehicle;

for each of a plurality of lanes of the current road segment, determine a score for the lane based at least in part on an estimated level of traffic of the lane along a maximum value of a look-ahead distance that the lane continues on the navigation route, the look-ahead distance including additional distance from the position to be traveled on one or more road segments subsequent to the current road segment as indicated by the set of actions; and

select a lane of the plurality of lanes for the vehicle to travel in based on the scores.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that a different vehicle is on the current road segment; and

responsive to determining that a difference between at least two of the scores is within a threshold, select a different lane of the plurality of lanes for the different vehicle to travel in.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that a difference between scores for two or more lanes of the plurality of lanes is within a threshold value; and

responsive to determining that one of the two or more lanes was previously selected for a different vehicle, select a different one of the two or more lanes as the selected lane for the vehicle to travel in.