NAVIGATION OF ON-ROAD VEHICLE BASED ON VERTICAL ELEMENTS
First Claim
1. An apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
- a navigation unit configured to determine a position of the vehicle;
a detection unit configured to detect objects that are external to the vehicle, and to recognize features of the objects;
a local database configured to store object reference data, the object reference data including feature data of objects, and position data identifying positions of the objects;
an identification unit configured to identify objects that are expected to be detected based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing the features of the objects that are recognized by the detection unit to the feature data of the objects that are expected to be detected stored in the local database; and
a transceiver configured to communicate with a remote database that stores additional object reference data, the additional object reference data including additional feature data of the objects and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects, whereinin response to the identification unit determining that it is unable to identify a first object, the transceiver is configured to communicate with the remote database to access the additional object reference data, and the identification unit is configured to compare features of the first object to the additional feature data to identify the first object, andthe navigation unit is further configured to update the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle can include a navigation unit configured to determine a position of the vehicle. A detection unit can be configured to recognize position and features of objects external to the vehicle. An identification unit can be configured to identify objects expected to be detected based on a determined position of the vehicle, by comparing the recognized features to feature data of object reference data stored in a local database. When the identification unit is unable to identify an object, the identification unit can compare recognized or stored object features to the additional feature data received from a remote database. A navigation unit can update the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects and more accurate and safe autonomous operation of a vehicle can be achieved.
59 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
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a navigation unit configured to determine a position of the vehicle; a detection unit configured to detect objects that are external to the vehicle, and to recognize features of the objects; a local database configured to store object reference data, the object reference data including feature data of objects, and position data identifying positions of the objects; an identification unit configured to identify objects that are expected to be detected based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing the features of the objects that are recognized by the detection unit to the feature data of the objects that are expected to be detected stored in the local database; and a transceiver configured to communicate with a remote database that stores additional object reference data, the additional object reference data including additional feature data of the objects and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects, wherein in response to the identification unit determining that it is unable to identify a first object, the transceiver is configured to communicate with the remote database to access the additional object reference data, and the identification unit is configured to compare features of the first object to the additional feature data to identify the first object, and the navigation unit is further configured to update the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
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navigation means for determining a position of the vehicle; detection means for detecting objects that are external to the vehicle, and for recognizing features of the objects; storage means for locally storing object reference data, the object reference data including feature data of objects, and position data identifying positions of the objects; identification means for identifying objects that are expected to be detected based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing the features of the objects that are recognized by the detection means to the feature data of the objects that are expected to be detected stored in the storage means; and a transceiver for communicating with a remote database that stores additional object reference data, the additional object reference data including additional feature data of the objects and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects, wherein in response to the identification means determining that it is unable to identify a first object, the transceiver communicates with the remote database to access the additional object reference data, and the identification means compares features of the first object to the additional feature data to identify the first object, and the navigation means updates the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects.
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19. A method for a vehicle, comprising:
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determining a position of the vehicle; detecting objects that are external to the vehicle, and recognizing features of the objects; accessing, from a local database, object reference data that is stored in the local database, the object reference data including feature data of objects, and position data identifying positions of the objects; identifying objects that are expected to be detected based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing the features of the objects that are recognized in the recognizing to the feature data of the objects that are expected to be detected stored in the local database; communicating with a remote database in response to determining that a first object cannot be identified, and accessing additional object reference data of the remote database, the additional object reference data including additional feature data of the objects and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects; comparing features of the first object to the additional feature data to identify the first object; and updating the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification