Vehicle position determining system and method
First Claim
1. A vehicle positioning system for enabling a vehicle to determine its absolute position while traveling on a road, comprising:
- a determining system arranged on the vehicle and which determines an identity of at least one marker as the vehicle passes said at least one marker;
a positioning system on the vehicle coupled to said determining system and which provides positions of markers and their identifications, such that once the identity of said at least one marker is determined and provided to said positioning system, the absolute position of said at least one marker is provided by said positioning system; and
a position determining system on the vehicle and coupled to said positioning system, said position determining system being arranged to receive from said determining system the absolute position of said at least one marker whose identity is determined by said determining system, and determine the position of the vehicle relative to said at least one marker, whereby an absolute position of the vehicle can be derived from the position of the vehicle relative to said at least one marker and the absolute position of said at least one marker.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Vehicle positioning system and method for enabling a vehicle to determine its position while traveling on a road in which an identity of at least one marker is determined as the vehicle passes each marker. The position of each marker is determined from its identification, e.g., with reference to a database, and thus the position of the vehicle, can be determined. Various markers may be used, including fixed markers arranged proximate the road. If three such fixed markers are provided, the position of the vehicle can be determined using triangulation. The fixed markers may be visual markers, passive transponder-type markers, active transponder-type markers and/or reflectors.
119 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A vehicle positioning system for enabling a vehicle to determine its absolute position while traveling on a road, comprising:
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a determining system arranged on the vehicle and which determines an identity of at least one marker as the vehicle passes said at least one marker; a positioning system on the vehicle coupled to said determining system and which provides positions of markers and their identifications, such that once the identity of said at least one marker is determined and provided to said positioning system, the absolute position of said at least one marker is provided by said positioning system; and a position determining system on the vehicle and coupled to said positioning system, said position determining system being arranged to receive from said determining system the absolute position of said at least one marker whose identity is determined by said determining system, and determine the position of the vehicle relative to said at least one marker, whereby an absolute position of the vehicle can be derived from the position of the vehicle relative to said at least one marker and the absolute position of said at least one marker. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for enabling a vehicle to determine its absolute position while traveling on a road, comprising:
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providing a processor on the vehicle, using the processor, determining an identity of at least one marker as the vehicle passes the at least one marker; using the processor, determining the absolute position of the at least one marker based on the determined identity of the at least one marker; and using the processor, determining the position of the vehicle relative to the at least one marker based on the determined absolute position of the at least one marker, whereby an absolute position of the vehicle can be derived from the position of the vehicle relative to the at least one marker and the absolute position of the at least one marker. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for enabling a vehicle to determine its position while traveling on roads, comprising:
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fixing a plurality of groups of markers in fixed positions alongside, on or in the road; forming a database containing the identity of the markers and their position; and providing the database to a processor on the vehicle such that when the vehicle passes a group of markers, the vehicle interacts with the markers and the processor determines an identity of each marker and then by accessing the database, determines the position of the markers and thus the position of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification