Data mining in a digital map database to identify intersections located at hill bottoms and enabling precautionary actions in a vehicle
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- a positioning system that determines a current location relative to data representing a geographic region; and
a precautionary action application stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled with the positioning system and a database and responsive to the positioning system and the database, the database being adapted to contain data representing a geographic region in which the positioning system is being operated, wherein the data includes multiple data items, each containing data representing a different feature of a road network in the geographic region, the precautionary action application being operative to determine whether, when combined, the features represented by at least two of the multiple data items constitute a hazardous condition, and upon a determination that the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items when combined constitute a hazardous condition, providing for taking a precautionary action when the positioning system determines that the current location is approaching or at a location of the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items; and
wherein one of the at least two of the multiple data items comprises data representative of a hill bottom and the other of the at least two of the multiple data items comprises data representative of an intersection at the hill bottom.
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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 located at the bottom of a hill. A database that represents the road network is used to determine locations where an intersection of roads is located at the bottom of a hill and then, precautionary action data is added to the database to indicate such locations. A precautionary action system installed in a vehicle uses this database, or a database derived therefrom, in combination with a positioning system to take a precautionary action as the vehicle approaches such a location.
147 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a positioning system that determines a current location relative to data representing a geographic region; and a precautionary action application stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled with the positioning system and a database and responsive to the positioning system and the database, the database being adapted to contain data representing a geographic region in which the positioning system is being operated, wherein the data includes multiple data items, each containing data representing a different feature of a road network in the geographic region, the precautionary action application being operative to determine whether, when combined, the features represented by at least two of the multiple data items constitute a hazardous condition, and upon a determination that the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items when combined constitute a hazardous condition, providing for taking a precautionary action when the positioning system determines that the current location is approaching or at a location of the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items; and wherein one of the at least two of the multiple data items comprises data representative of a hill bottom and the other of the at least two of the multiple data items comprises data representative of an intersection at the hill bottom. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method comprising:
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determining a current position in a geographic area; evaluating at least two of multiple data items collected prior to the determining of the current position and present in a database that contains data that represents features of a road network in the geographic area, each of the multiple data items containing data representing a different feature of the road network; determining whether, when combined, the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items constitute a hazardous condition; and upon determining that the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items when combined constitute a hazardous condition, providing for taking a precautionary action when approaching a location of the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items; and wherein the combination of the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items comprise an intersection of roads located at a bottom of a hill. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method comprising:
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adapting a database that contains multiple data items, already collected and present in the database, representing features of a road network in a geographic area, each of the multiple data items containing data representing a different feature of the road network, by identifying, based solely on the already collected data, when combined, the features represented by at least two of the multiple data items constitute a hazardous condition, and augmenting the database to include precautionary action data associated with the identified at least two of the multiple data items, the precautionary action data operative to indicate a potentially hazardous location at which a precautionary action is to be taken when approaching; determining a current location; accessing the database based on the current location to identify at least two of the multiple data items associated with one or more locations being approached from the current location and determine if any of the identified at least two of the multiple data items are associated with precautionary action data; and upon determining that the features represented by the identified at least two of the multiple data items are associated with precautionary action data, providing for taking a precautionary action when approaching a location of the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items; and wherein the combination of the features represented by the at least two of the multiple data items comprise an intersection of roads located at a bottom of a hill. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification