Bowing coefficient representation of curvature of geographic features
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of representing road geometry comprising:
- determining an arc length between two points along a road;
determining a chord length between said points along the road; and
comparing said arc length to said chord length;
whereby a result of said comparing is an indication of how much the road curves between said two points.
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Abstract
The degree to which a linearly extending feature, such as a road, curves is indicated using a bowing coefficient. The bowing coefficient at a given location along a linearly extending feature is determined by comparing the distance along the feature between two points on either side of the given location (or an approximation of the distance) to a straight-line distance between these same two points. Bowing coefficient data can be used by various vehicle systems that require information about the curvature of linearly extending features, such as roads upon which the vehicle is traveling.
20 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of representing road geometry comprising:
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determining an arc length between two points along a road;
determining a chord length between said points along the road; and
comparing said arc length to said chord length;
whereby a result of said comparing is an indication of how much the road curves between said two points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A geographic database comprising:
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a data representation of a plurality of roads in a geographic region;
wherein said data representation includes an indication of curvature along at least one of said roads; and
wherein said indication of curvature includes a comparison between an arc length between paints along the road and a chord length between said points. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of determining how much a road curves comprising:
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determining an approximation of an arc length between two points along the road;
determining an approximation of a chord length between said points; and
comparing said arc length to said chord length, wherein a result of said comparing is an indication of how much the road curves between said points. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification