Data mining in a digital map database to identify insufficient merge lanes along roads and enabling precautionary actions in a vehicle

• US 10,232,860 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2017
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (HERE Holding Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (HERE Holding Corporation)
• Inventors: Denaro, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Tissot, Adam D
• Application Number:
  US15/668,286
• Publication Number:
  US 20170327128A1
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 701400, 701409, 701410, 701411, 701414, 701425, 701437, 701439, 701450, 701454, 701516, 701532, 701533, 3404255, 340901, 340905, 340988, 340990, 3409951, 34099514, 34099521, 34099527
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/022 Collision avoidance systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3658 Lane guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/007 using computer methods

Abstract

Disclosed is a feature for a vehicle that enables taking precautionary actions in response to conditions on the road network around or ahead of the vehicle, in particular, an intersection without traffic signals and without a sufficient merge lane. A database that represents the road network is used to determine locations where roads meet without a traffic signal and without a sufficient merge lane. Then, precautionary action data is added to the database to indicate a location at which a precautionary action is to be taken about the location of the insufficient merge lane. A precautionary action system installed in a vehicle uses this database, or a database derived therefrom, in combination with a positioning system to determine when the vehicle is at a location that corresponds to the location of a precautionary action. When the vehicle is at such a location, a precautionary action is taken by a vehicle system as the vehicle is approaching a location of an insufficient merge lane.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

one or more vehicle mechanical systems;

a positioning system that determines a current location of the vehicle along a road of a road network relative to data representing a geographic region;

a database that contains data representing the geographic region in which the vehicle is being operated, wherein the data includes data that represents roads of the road network located in the geographic region and precautionary action data associated with a plurality of locations along the roads of the road network where one or more different hazardous conditions which may impair control of the vehicle exists, wherein each of the plurality of locations where the hazardous condition exists comprises a location along a road of the road network at which it has been automatically determined, prior to approach of the location by the vehicle, based on the data in the database that represents roads of a road network and subsequently validated by a human as being associated with a location which is actually hazardous based on an inspection, that a combination of first and second conditions, the first condition comprising a first feature existing or not existing at the location and the second condition comprising existence of a second feature adjacent to the first feature or an attribute of the second feature adjacent to the first feature exceeding a threshold, are satisfied together at that same location along the road based on geographic features at or around the location;

a precautionary action application, responsive to the positioning system and the database, that determines whether, based on the current location of the vehicle, the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data; and

a vehicle control system coupled with the one or more vehicle mechanical systems and responsive to the precautionary action application to actuate at least a subset of the one or more vehicle mechanical systems to take a precautionary action when the precautionary action application determines that the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the one or more vehicle mechanical systems comprise brakes, engine, seatbelts, airbags, or stability control.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the positioning system is further operative determine a direction of travel of the vehicle and wherein the precautionary action data further includes data that indicates a direction along a road segment at which a precautionary action is to be taken, wherein the precautionary action application is further operative to determine whether the vehicle is approaching the location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data in the direction along the road segment at which the precautionary action is to be taken, the vehicle control system being further responsive thereto.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the precautionary action data further includes data that indicates a location along a road segment at which the precautionary action is to be taken by the vehicle preceding the location along the road of the road network associated with the precautionary action data, wherein the precautionary action application is further operative to determine whether the vehicle is at the location at which the precautionary action is to be taken, the vehicle control system being further responsive thereto.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the precautionary action data further includes data that refers to the location of the actual hazardous condition.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the hazardous condition is selected from a group comprising:

a turn with a decreasing radius of curvature, a turn where the superelevation (bank angle) is insufficient or in the wrong direction, a downhill segment that has an intersection at the bottom of the hill, a downhill segment that has a stop sign or stoplight at the bottom of the hill, a sharp curve on a downhill slope, a curve that has a stop sign or stoplight somewhere along the curve, a blind intersection either because it is in a turn or over a hill, an unusually narrow lane or road, a lane merge, a road entrance with no stop sign or stoplight that has no merge lane, and a curve with a lower speed recommendation than the preceding straight segment speed limit.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the first feature comprises an intersection of roads and the second feature comprises one of the intersecting roads merging into another of the intersecting roads over a distance, the first condition comprising existence the intersection of roads without traffic signals thereat and the second condition comprises the merging distance being insufficient.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising one or more sensors operative to sense conditions ahead of the vehicle.

9. The vehicle of claim 7 wherein the one or more sensors comprise camera or radar.

10. The vehicle of claim 7 wherein the one or more different hazardous conditions comprises conditions not capable of being sensed by the sensors.

11. The vehicle of claim 7 wherein the precautionary action application determines whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data before any of the one or more sensors can sense the hazardous condition indicated thereby.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the precautionary action application determines whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data when the vehicle is operating in inclement weather.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the precautionary action includes maneuvering the vehicle, tightening seatbelts, pre-loading or engaging brakes, tightening sensitivities of lane departure warning systems or stability control systems, or readying the brakes, engine or transmission for quick deceleration or stop.

14. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the precautionary action application is further operative to factor in dynamic information when determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data.

15. The vehicle of claim 13 wherein the dynamic information includes current traffic conditions, current weather conditions, current ambient light conditions, current road conditions, or combinations thereof.

16. The vehicle of claim 13 wherein the precautionary action application is further operative to alter a location at which a precautionary action is to be taken based on the dynamic information.

17. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the data that represents roads of the road network located in the geographic region further includes data representing nodes (intersections), boundaries, cartographic features, pedestrian walkways, bike paths, or points-of-interest.

18. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the database further includes precautionary action data in association with one or more locations defined as hazardous based on sufficient comments occurring about the particular location received via community input from citizens or organizations.

19. A method of operating a vehicle, the method comprising:

determining, using a positioning system, a current location of the vehicle along a road of a road network relative to data representing a geographic region;

accessing a database that contains data representing the geographic region in which the vehicle is being operated, wherein the data includes data that represents roads of the road network located in the geographic region and precautionary action data associated with a plurality of locations along the roads of the road network where one or more different hazardous conditions which may impair control of the vehicle exists, wherein each of the plurality of locations where the hazardous condition exists comprises a location along a road of the road network at which it has been automatically determined, prior to approach of the location by the vehicle, based on the data in the database that represents roads of a road network, and subsequently validated by a human as being associated with a location which is actually hazardous based on an inspection, that a combination of first and second conditions, the first condition comprising a first feature existing or not existing at the location and the second condition comprising existence of a second feature adjacent to the first feature or an attribute of the second feature adjacent to the first feature exceeding a threshold, are satisfied together at that same location along the road based on geographic features at or around the location;

determining, by a precautionary action application, responsive to the determination of the current position of the vehicle and the access to the database, whether, based on the current location of the vehicle, the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data; and

actuating, by a vehicle control system coupled with one or more vehicle mechanical systems and responsive to the precautionary action application, at least a subset of the one or more vehicle mechanical systems to take a precautionary action when the precautionary action application determines that the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the one or more vehicle mechanical systems comprise brakes, engine, seatbelts, airbags, or stability control.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the determining of the current location further comprises determining a direction of travel of the vehicle and wherein the precautionary action data further includes data that indicates a direction along a road segment at which a precautionary action is to be taken, wherein the determining of whether the vehicle is approaching the location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data further comprises determining whether the vehicle is approaching in the direction along the road segment at which the precautionary action is to be taken, the actuating being further responsive thereto.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the precautionary action data further includes data that indicates a location along a road segment at which the precautionary action is to be taken by the vehicle preceding the location along the road of the road network associated with the precautionary action data, wherein the determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data further comprises determining whether the vehicle is at the location at which the precautionary action is to be taken, the actuating being further responsive thereto.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the precautionary action data further includes data that refers to the location of the actual hazardous condition.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the hazardous condition is selected from a group comprising:

a turn with a decreasing radius of curvature, a turn where the superelevation (bank angle) is insufficient or in the wrong direction, a downhill segment that has an intersection at the bottom of the hill, a downhill segment that has a stop sign or stoplight at the bottom of the hill, a sharp curve on a downhill slope, a curve that has a stop sign or stoplight somewhere along the curve, a blind intersection either because it is in a turn or over a hill, an unusually narrow lane or road, a lane merge, a road entrance with no stop sign or stoplight that has no merge lane, and a curve with a lower speed recommendation than the preceding straight segment speed limit.

25. The method of claim 19 wherein the first feature comprises an intersection of roads and the second feature comprises one of the intersecting roads merging into another of the intersecting roads over a distance, the first condition comprising existence the intersection of roads without traffic signals thereat and the second condition comprises the merging distance being insufficient.

26. The method of claim 19 further comprising one or more sensors operative to sense conditions ahead of the vehicle.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the one or more sensors comprise camera or radar.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein the one or more different hazardous conditions comprises conditions not capable of being sensed by the sensors.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein the determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data further comprises determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data before any of the one or more sensors can sense the hazardous condition indicated thereby.

30. The method of claim 19 wherein the determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data further comprises determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data when the vehicle is operating in inclement weather.

31. The method of claim 19 wherein the actuating includes maneuvering the vehicle, tightening seatbelts, pre-loading or engaging brakes, tightening sensitivities of lane departure warning systems or stability control systems, or readying the brakes, engine or transmission for quick deceleration or stop.

32. The method of claim 19 wherein the determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data further comprises determining further comprises factoring in dynamic information when determining whether the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the dynamic information includes current traffic conditions, current weather conditions, current ambient light conditions, current road conditions, or combinations thereof.

34. The method of claim 32 further comprising altering a location at which a precautionary action is to be taken based on the dynamic information.

35. The method of claim 19 wherein the data that represents roads of the road network located in the geographic region further includes data representing nodes (intersections), boundaries, cartographic features, pedestrian walkways, bike paths, or points-of-interest.

36. The method of claim 19 wherein the database further includes precautionary action data in association with one or more locations defined as hazardous based on sufficient comments occurring about the particular location received via community input from citizens or organizations.

37. A method of operating a vehicle, the method comprising:

determining, using a positioning system, a current location of the vehicle along a road of a road network relative to data representing a geographic region;

accessing a database that contains data representing the geographic region in which the vehicle is being operated, wherein the data includes data that represents roads of the road network located in the geographic region and precautionary action data associated with a plurality of locations along the roads of the road network where one or more different hazardous conditions which may impair control of the vehicle exists, wherein each of the plurality of locations where the hazardous condition exists comprises a location along a road of the road network at which it has been automatically determined, prior to approach of the location by the vehicle, based on the data in the database that represents roads of a road network, and subsequently validated by a human as being associated with a location which is actually hazardous based on an inspection, that a combination of first and second conditions, the first condition comprising a first feature existing or not existing at the location and the second condition comprising existence of a second feature adjacent to the first feature or an attribute of the second feature adjacent to the first feature exceeding a threshold, are satisfied together at that same location along the road based on geographic features at or around the location;

determining, by a precautionary action application before an operator or sensors of the vehicle can sense the hazardous condition, responsive to the determination of the current position of the vehicle and the access to the database, whether, based on the current location of the vehicle, the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data; and

actuating, by a vehicle control system coupled with one or more vehicle mechanical systems and responsive to the precautionary action application, at least a subset of the one or more vehicle mechanical systems to take a precautionary action when the precautionary action application determines that the vehicle is approaching a location along a road of the road network associated with precautionary action data.