Traffic Obstruction Notification System Based on Wireless Vehicle Data

• US 20170365166A1
• Filed: 06/20/2016
• Published: 12/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: LU, Hongsheng, BANSAL, Gaurav, KENNEY, John, NAKANISHI, Toru
• Granted Patent: US 10,013,877 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0967 Systems involving transmission of highway information, e.g. weather, speed limits transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element

Abstract

The disclosure includes implementations for estimating a presence of an obstruction in a roadway using wireless vehicle data. A method may include receiving a Dedicated Short Range Communication (“DSRC”) message that includes path history data describing a path of a first DSRC-equipped vehicle with lane-level accuracy over a plurality of different times while the first DSRC-equipped vehicle is traveling on a roadway. The method may include determining a presence of an obstruction in a specific lane of the roadway based on the path history data. The obstruction may be indicated by the path history data because the path history data indicates that the obstruction affected the path of the first DSRC-equipped vehicle while traveling in the specific lane of the roadway. The method may include providing a recommendation to a driver of a second DSRC-equipped vehicle. The recommendation may describe the presence of the obstruction in the specific lane.

Claims

1. A method for a Dedicated Short Range Communication-equipped (“

DSRC-equipped”

) vehicle, the method comprising;

collecting, by a sensor set included in a first DSRC-equipped vehicle, sensor data that describes a plurality of locations of the first DSRC-equipped vehicle with lane-level accuracy at a plurality of different times while the first DSRC-equipped vehicle is traveling on a roadway, wherein the sensor set includes a DSRC-compliant GPS unit that generates the sensor data describing the plurality of locations with lane-level accuracy;

building, by the first DSRC-equipped vehicle, first path history data based on the sensor data, wherein the first path history data describes a path of the first DSRC-equipped vehicle with lane-level accuracy over the plurality of different times while the first DSRC-equipped vehicle is traveling the roadway;

wirelessly transmitting, by the first DSRC-equipped vehicle, a DSRC message that includes the first path history data to a second DSRC-equipped vehicle;

receiving the DSRC message by the second DSRC-equipped vehicle;

receiving a wireless message by the second DSRC-equipped vehicle, wherein the wireless message is transmitted by a computing device and includes second path history data for one or more other vehicles that describes one or more paths of the one or more other vehicles while traveling on the roadway;

determining, by the second DSRC-equipped vehicle, a presence of an obstruction in a specific lane of a roadway based on the first path history data and the second path history, wherein the obstruction is indicated by the first path history data and the second path history data because the first path history data and at least a portion of the second path history data indicates that the obstruction modified the path of the first DSRC-equipped vehicle and at least one of the one or more other vehicles while traveling in the specific lane of the roadway; and

providing, by the second DSRC-equipped vehicle, a recommendation to a driver of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle, wherein the recommendation describes the presence of the obstruction in the specific lane of the roadway.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the DSRC message and the wireless message is a basic safety message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein lane-level accuracy includes the location of the first DSRC-equipped vehicle being described by the sensor data with an accuracy of substantially plus or minus 1.5 meters where the specific lane of the roadway is substantially 3 meters wide.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more other vehicles is not equipped to transmit DSRC messages or receive DSRC messages.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a Roadside Unit that aggregates the second path history data from the one or more other vehicles.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a server that receives the second path history data from one or more Roadside Units that aggregate the second path history data from the one or more other vehicles.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless message is a full-duplex wireless message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence of the obstruction is only determined if the first path history data and the second path history data indicate that a number of vehicles experienced the obstruction and the number exceeds a predetermined threshold of vehicles.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising an Advanced Driver Assistance System of the vehicle operating the second DSRC-equipped vehicle to respond to the determination of the presence of the obstruction.

10. A system comprising:

a DSRC receiver of a second DSRC-equipped vehicle that is operable to receive a DSRC message that includes path history data describing a path of a first DSRC-equipped vehicle with lane-level accuracy over a plurality of different times while the first DSRC-equipped vehicle is traveling on a roadway;

an onboard vehicle computer system of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle that is communicatively coupled to the DSRC receiver to receive the path history data from the DSRC receiver, the onboard vehicle computer system including a non-transitory memory storing computer code which, when executed by the onboard vehicle computer system causes the onboard vehicle computer system to;

determine a presence of an obstruction in a specific lane of the roadway based on the path history data, wherein the obstruction is indicated by the path history data because the path history data indicates that the obstruction affected the path of the first DSRC-equipped vehicle while traveling in the specific lane of the roadway; and

provide a recommendation to a driver of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle, wherein the recommendation describes the presence of the obstruction in the specific lane of the roadway.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the DSRC message is a basic safety message.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein lane-level accuracy includes one or more locations of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle being described by the path history data with an accuracy of substantially plus or minus 1.5 meters where the specific lane of the roadway is substantially 3 meters wide.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the system further comprises an Advanced Driver Assistance System communicatively coupled to the onboard vehicle computer system and wherein the non-transitory memory further stores computer code which, when executed by the onboard vehicle computer system causes the Advanced Driver Assistance System to operate the second DSRC-equipped vehicle to respond to the presence of the obstruction.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the Advanced Driver Assistance System operates the second DSRC-equipped vehicle to respond to the presence of the obstruction by modifying a heading of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the Advanced Driver Assistance System operates the vehicle to respond to the presence of the obstruction by modifying a velocity of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the Advanced Driver Assistance System operates the vehicle to respond to the presence of the obstruction by modifying an acceleration of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the DSRC message is transmitted by a Roadside Unit.

18. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory memory of an onboard vehicle computer system of a second DSRC-equipped vehicle storing computer-executable code that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

receive a DSRC message that includes path history data describing a path of a first DSRC-equipped vehicle with lane-level accuracy over a plurality of different times while the first DSRC-equipped vehicle is traveling on a roadway;

determine a presence of an obstruction in a specific lane of the roadway based on the path history data, wherein the obstruction is indicated by the path history data because the path history data indicates that the obstruction affected the path of the first DSRC-equipped vehicle while traveling in the specific lane of the roadway; and

provide a recommendation to a driver of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle, wherein the recommendation describes the presence of the obstruction in the specific lane of the roadway.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein providing the recommendation includes causing an electronic panel of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle to display a graphical message describing the presence of the obstruction in the specific lane of the roadway.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein providing the recommendation includes causing a speaker of the second DSRC-equipped vehicle to generate audio describing the presence of the obstruction in the specific lane of the roadway.

21. A method comprising:

receiving a wireless message that includes path history data describing a path of a first vehicle with lane-level accuracy over a plurality of different times while the first vehicle is traveling on a roadway; and

determining, by a second vehicle, a presence of an obstruction in a specific lane of the roadway based on the path history data, wherein the obstruction is indicated by the path history data because the path history data indicates that the obstruction modified the path of the first vehicle while traveling in the specific lane of the roadway.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the wireless message is a full-duplex wireless message.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the wireless message is a DSRC message.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the wireless message is a basic safety message.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the path history data is generated by an onboard vehicle computer system of the first vehicle based on location data provided by a DSRC-compliant GPS unit of the first vehicle, wherein the location data provides the lane-level accuracy by describing the location of the second vehicle with an accuracy of substantially plus or minus 1.5 meters relative to the actual location of the second vehicle where the specific lane of the roadway is substantially 3 meters wide.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the obstruction modified the path of the first vehicle by causing the first vehicle to slow down.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein the obstruction modified the path of the first vehicle by causing the first vehicle to change its heading.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein the obstruction modified the path of the first vehicle by causing the first vehicle to change its acceleration.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein the obstruction modified the path of the first vehicle by causing the first vehicle to swerve.