Multisensory correlation of traffic lanes

• US 6,597,984 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2001
• Issued: 07/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Daimler Chrysler Company LLC (Stellantis NV)
• Inventors: Appenrodt, Nils, Berner, Joerg, Mezger, Klaus, Wanielik, Gerd
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MARC-COLEMAN, MARTHE Y
• Application Number:
  US09/912,001
• Publication Number:
  US 20020067292A1
• Time in Patent Office: 728 Days
• Field of Search: 701/207, 212/02, 212/13, 212/14, 212/16, 212/20, 212/21, 212/23, 340/425.5, 340/435, 340/436
• US Class Current: 701/207
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/30 Map- or contour-matching
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard

Abstract

To increase convenience and safety in vehicles, sensor systems for environmental sensing which feature an intelligent scene interpretation are increasingly gaining importance. To determine the position of a motor vehicle with respect to the traffic lane, the data from a digital road map coupled with a navigation system is fused with the data delivered by a distance-resolving sensor. In this context, the signature and the distance-related variation of the received signal of the distance-resolving sensor are evaluated for determining the distance from the road edge. The advantage of the present invention ensues from the possibility for a vehicle to autonomously determine its instantaneous position with respect to the traffic lane, without falling back on a stationary traffic infrastructure (marking lines reflectors).

Claims

1. A method for determining the position of a motor vehicle with respect to a traffic lane, comprising the steps of:

correlating a position of the motor vehicle with respect to a road as a function of road map data and a navigation system, and

determining a distance of the motor vehicle from the road edge via a distance-resolving sensor having a received signal, a signature of the received signal of the distance-resolving sensor being evaluated for determining the distance from the road edge, a more precise position of the vehicle being determined as a function of the correlation and the distance from the road edge.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining a variation in intensity of the received signal.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising receiving further position data from a further on-board sensor for determining the position.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 wherein the further on-board sensor includes a gyroscope.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein a range window distance of a range window within the received signal of the distance-resolving sensor is used as an estimate of the distance of the motor vehicle from the road edge, the signature of the received signal changing significantly within the range window.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the significant change is identified when an intensity of the received signal increases monotonously.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the monotonous increase takes place over at least two range windows.

8. The method as recited in claim 6 wherein the distance estimate with respect to the monotonous transition of the road pavement to the road edge is computed using an image-processing estimation method, the distance estimate having a higher resolution than the resolution of the distance-resolving sensor.

9. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein the significant change is identified when the received signal features a signature representative of a road edge.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 further comprising analyzing a polarization of the received signal.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein a course of the road is determined from a chronological sequence of the distance information.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 wherein the course of the road is determined using a least error square determination.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the Kalman filter is adapted to data such as curve parameters which is obtained from the digital road map.

14. The method as recited in claim 11 wherein the course of the road is determined using a Kalman filter.

15. The method as recited claim 1 further comprising making available the position of the vehicle with respect to the traffic lane to further technical systems as a control parameter.

16. The method as recited in claim 15 wherein a further technical system is controlled which masks the detection space of beam-based sensors.

17. The method as recited in claim 15 wherein a further technical system is a traffic analyzer.

18. A device for carrying out a method for determining the position of a motor vehicle with respect to a traffic lane, comprising:

an on-board navigation system, in which a first correlation of the motor vehicle to a road is carried out via road map data coupled to the navigation system, and

a distance-resolving sensor coupled to the on-board navigation system, the distance-resolving sensor receiving a received signal for determining a distance to a road edge, the first correlation and the distance to the road edge being used to determine position of the motor vehicle.

19. The device as recited in claim 18 wherein the device further includes a signal processing unit for evaluating individually the signature acquired by the sensor from the transition between the road surface and the road edge.