METHOD, APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR ESTABLISHING LOCATION

• US 20200132858A1
• Filed: 10/30/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (HERE Holding Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (HERE Holding Corporation)
• Inventors: VISWANATHAN, Anirudh, CHRISTIAN, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 11,169,274 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/28 Satellite selection
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/426 by combining or switching between position solutions or signals derived from different modes of operation in a single system
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

A method is provided for establishing a location of a device based on a global navigation satellite system. Methods may include: receiving sensor data of an environment of the apparatus; estimating object location within the environment based on the sensor data; receiving a static elevation mask; generating a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask and the estimated object location within the environment; receiving signals from a plurality of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites; filtering the signals from the plurality of GNSS satellites to eliminate from consideration a subset of satellites established as not having a line-of-sight with the apparatus; establishing a location of the apparatus from remaining satellites established as having a line-of-sight with the apparatus; and providing for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the established location of the apparatus.

Claims

1. An apparatus to facilitate autonomous or semi-autonomous control of a vehicle comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code instructions stored thereon, the computer program code instructions configured to, when executed, cause the apparatus to at least:

receive sensor data of an environment of the apparatus;

estimate object location within the environment based on the sensor data;

retrieve a static elevation mask;

generate a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask and the estimated object location within the environment;

receive signals from a plurality of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites;

filter the signals from the plurality of GNSS satellites to eliminate from consideration a subset of satellites established as not having a line-of-sight with the apparatus;

establish a location of the apparatus from remaining satellites established as having a line-of-sight with the apparatus; and

provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the established location of the apparatus.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to retrieve at least one previously generated learned-elevation mask, wherein causing the apparatus to generate a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask and the estimated object location within the environment comprises causing the apparatus to generate a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask, the estimated object location within the environment, and the at least one previously generated learned-elevation mask.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor data is generated by at least one of an image sensor or a Light Distancing and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one of an image sensor or LiDAR sensor is associated with the vehicle.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein causing the apparatus to estimate object location within the environment comprises causing the apparatus to perform semantic segmentation on the sensor data to estimate a location of at least one of buildings, vegetation, or geological features within the environment.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein causing the apparatus to provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the established location of the apparatus comprises causing the apparatus to:

map match the established location with a road segment;

retrieve data associated with the road segment in response to map matching the location of the apparatus to the road segment; and

provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the retrieved data associated with the road segment.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the retrieved data associated with the road segment comprises rules associated with travel along the road segment, and causing the apparatus to provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the retrieved data comprises causing the apparatus to control a speed of the vehicle according to the rules associated with travel along the road segment.

8. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions to:

receive sensor data of an environment of an apparatus;

estimate object location within the environment based on the sensor data;

retrieve a static elevation mask;

generate a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask and the estimated object location within the environment;

receive signals from a plurality of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites;

filter the signals from the plurality of GNSS satellites to eliminate from consideration a subset of satellites established as not having a line-of-sight with the apparatus;

establish a location of the apparatus from remaining satellites established as having a line-of-sight with the apparatus; and

provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the established location of the apparatus.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising program code instructions to retrieve at least one previously generated learned-elevation mask, wherein the program code instructions to generate a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask and the estimated object location within the environment comprise program code instructions to generate a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask, the estimated object location within the environment, and the at least one previously generated learned-elevation mask.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the sensor data is generated by at least one of an image sensor or a Light Distancing and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the at least one of an image sensor or LiDAR sensor is associated with a vehicle.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the program code instructions to estimate object location within the environment comprise program code instructions to perform semantic segmentation on the sensor data to estimate a location of at least one of buildings, vegetation, or geological features within the environment.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein program code instructions to provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the established location of the apparatus comprise program code instructions to:

map match the established location with a road segment;

retrieve data associated with the road segment in response to map matching the location of the apparatus to the road segment; and

provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the retrieved data associated with the road segment.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the retrieved data associated with the road segment comprises rules associated with travel along the road segment, and the program code instructions to provide for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the retrieved data comprise program code instructions to control a speed of the vehicle according to the rules associated with travel along the road segment.

15. A method comprising:

receiving sensor data of an environment of an apparatus;

estimating object location within the environment based on the sensor data;

retrieving a static elevation mask;

generating a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask and the estimated object location within the environment;

receiving signals from a plurality of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites;

filtering the signals from the plurality of GNSS satellites to eliminate from consideration a subset of satellites established as not having a line-of-sight with the apparatus;

establishing a location of the apparatus from remaining satellites established as having a line-of-sight with the apparatus; and

providing for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the established location of the apparatus.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

retrieving at least one previously generated learned-elevation mask, wherein generating a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask and the estimated object location within the environment comprises generating a learned-elevation mask based, at least in part, on the static elevation mask, the estimated object location within the environment, and the at least one previously generated learned-elevation mask.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the sensor data is generated by at least one of an image sensor or a Light Distancing and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein estimating object location within the environment comprises performing semantic segmentation on the sensor data to estimate a location of at least one of buildings, vegetation, or geological features within the environment.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein providing for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the established location of the apparatus comprises:

map matching the established location with a road segment;

retrieving data associated with the road segment in response to map matching the location of the apparatus to the road segment; and

providing for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the retrieved data associated with the road segment.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the retrieved data associated with the road segment comprises rules associated with travel along the road segment, and providing for at least one of route guidance or autonomous vehicle control based on the retrieved data comprises controlling a speed of a vehicle according to the rules associated with travel along the road segment.