Navigating a vehicle based on a detected barrier

• US 10,296,010 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2017
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MobilEye Vision Technologies Ltd. (Intel Corporation)
• Original Assignee: MobilEye Vision Technologies Ltd. (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Cohen, Barak
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W
• Application Number:
  US15/630,203
• Publication Number:
  US 20180101177A1
• Time in Patent Office: 698 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for navigating an autonomous vehicle. In one implementation, a system for navigating a vehicle includes at least one processing device programmed to receive, from an image capture device, a plurality of images associated with an environment of the vehicle, analyze at least one of the plurality of images to identify a navigable region in the environment of the vehicle, identify, based on the at least one of the plurality of images, at least one barrier associated with an edge of the navigable region, and determine a type of the at least one barrier. The at least one processing device is also programmed to determine a navigational path of the vehicle based on the determined type of the at least one barrier, and cause the vehicle to travel on at least a portion of the determined navigational path.

Claims

1. A system for navigating a vehicle, the system comprising:

at least one processing device programmed to;

receive, from an image capture device, a plurality of images associated with an environment of the vehicle;

analyze at least one of the plurality of images to identify a navigable region in the environment of the vehicle;

identify, based on the at least one of the plurality of images, at least one barrier associated with an edge of the navigable region;

determine a type of the at least one barrier;

determine a navigational path of the vehicle based on the determined type of the at least one barrier; and

cause the vehicle to travel on at least a portion of the determined navigational path.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to identify, based on analysis of at least one of the plurality of images, an obstacle forward of the vehicle, and the determined navigational path of the vehicle avoids the identified obstacle.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the obstacle includes a pedestrian.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the obstacle includes another vehicle.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the determined type of the barrier includes a traversable barrier, and the determined navigational path includes traveling through at least a portion of the traversable barrier.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the traversable barrier includes a curb or a lane marking.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to determine whether to transmit to a remote server an update to a map for autonomous vehicle navigation based on the determined type of the barrier.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the determined type of the barrier includes a fixed barrier, and the at least one processing device is further programmed to transmit a location of the fixed barrier to the remote server.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the fixed barrier includes at least one of a road edge, a curb, a lane dividing structure, a tunnel wall, or a bridge structure.

10. A system for navigating a vehicle, the system comprising:

at least one processing device programmed to;

receive, from an image capture device, a plurality of images associated with an environment of the vehicle;

analyze at least one of the plurality of images to identify a navigable region in the environment of the vehicle;

identify, based on the at least one of the plurality of images, a first barrier associated with at least one edge of the navigable region and a second barrier associated with at least one edge of the navigable region;

determine a type of the first barrier and a type of the second barrier, wherein the determined type of the first barrier includes a traversable barrier and the determined type of the second barrier includes a non-traversable barrier;

determine a navigational path of the vehicle based on the determined types of the first barrier and the second barrier, wherein the determined navigational path includes traveling through the first barrier in order to avoid the second barrier; and

cause the vehicle to travel on at least a portion of the determined navigational path.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first barrier includes a road edge or a curb.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the second barrier includes a lane dividing structure, another vehicle, a tunnel wall, or a bridge structure.

13. A method for navigating a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving, from an image capture device, a plurality of images associated with an environment of the vehicle;

analyzing at least one of the plurality of images to identify a navigable region in the environment of the vehicle;

identifying based on the at least one of the plurality of images, at least one barrier associated with an edge of the navigable region;

determining a type of the at least one barrier;

determining a navigational path of the vehicle based on the determined type of the at least one barrier; and

causing the vehicle to travel on at least a portion of the determined navigational path.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

identifying, based on analysis of at least one of the plurality of images, an obstacle forward of the vehicle, wherein the determined navigational path of the vehicle avoids the identified obstacle.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the detected type of the barrier includes a traversable barrier, and the determined navigational path includes traveling through at least a portion of the traversable barrier.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining whether to transmit to a remote server an update to a map for autonomous vehicle navigation based on the detected type of the barrier.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the detected type of the barrier includes a fixed barrier, and

the method further comprises transmitting a location of the fixed barrier to the remote server.

18. A method for navigating a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving, from an image capture device, a plurality of images associated with an environment of the vehicle;

analyzing at least one of the plurality of images to identify a navigable region in the environment of the vehicle;

identifying, based on the at least one of the plurality of images, a first barrier associated with at least one edge of the navigable region and a second barrier associated with at least one edge of the navigable region;

determining a type of the first barrier and a type of the second barrier, wherein the determined type of the first barrier includes a traversable barrier and the determined type of the second barrier includes a non-traversable barrier;

determining a navigational path of the vehicle based on the determined types of the first barrier and the second barrier, wherein the determined navigational path includes traveling through the first barrier in order to avoid the second barrier; and

causing the vehicle to travel on at least a portion of the determined navigational path.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first barrier includes a road edge or a curb.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the second barrier includes a lane dividing structure, another vehicle, a tunnel wall, or a bridge structure.