Vehicle-position-recognition apparatuses, methods, and programs

• US 8,155,873 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2008
• Issued: 04/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakao, Koichi, Nakamura, Masaki, Kanba, Motoki, Aisaka, Osamu, Ishikawa, Tomoaki
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Tuan C.
• Application Number:
  US12/213,074
• Publication Number:
  US 20090005980A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,397 Days
• Field of Search: 701/210, 701/201, 701/208, 701/209, 340/995.19, 340/934, 370/401, 370/206, 715/711
• US Class Current: 701/210
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road

Abstract

Vehicle-position-recognition apparatuses, methods, and programs acquire current position information indicating a current position of a vehicle and acquire road information indicating at least one road based on a connection relationship between plural links. The apparatuses, methods, and programs determine a link where the vehicle travels based on the current position information and the road information and generate travel-history information indicating a route that the vehicle travels at a point where a link is branched based on the determined link. The apparatuses, methods, and programs acquire an image of an area surrounding the vehicle, recognize a recognition target in the acquired image, and store the generated travel-history information in the memory in association with information indicating the recognition of the recognition target. The apparatuses, methods, and programs generate learning-priority information indicating a priority of each link branched out at the branch point based on the stored travel-history information and the stored recognition information, the generated learning-priority information usable to determine on which of the links branched out at the branch point that the vehicle is traveling.

Claims

1. A vehicle-position-recognition apparatus, comprising:

a memory; and

a controller that;

acquires current position information indicating a current position of a vehicle;

acquires road information indicating at least one road based on a connection relationship between plural links;

determines a link where the vehicle travels based on the current position information and the road information;

generates travel-history information indicating a route that the vehicle travels at a point where a link is branched based on the determined link;

acquires an image of an area surrounding the vehicle;

recognizes a recognition target in the acquired image;

stores the generated travel-history information in the memory in association with information indicating the recognition of the recognition target; and

generates learning-priority information indicating a priority of each link branched out at the branch point based on the stored travel-history information and the stored recognition information, the generated learning-priority information being used to determine on which of the links branched out at the branch point that the vehicle is traveling.

2. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller stores information about a route from the branch point over at least one predetermined storage section and generates the travel-history information based on the stored route information.

3. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined storage section is a section extending from a first link indicated by the travel-history information to a second link reached with a position skip so that the road information shows no connection relationship between the first and second links.

4. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined storage section extends from the branch point to a next branch point in a direction in which the vehicle travels.

5. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller:

extracts a piece of travel-history information from the memory that is associated with the recognition information agreeing with the recognition result; and

generates the learning-priority information based on the extracted piece of travel-history information.

6. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the learning-priority information shows a priority determined based on:

whether the recognition target is recognized at the branch point; and

a travel ratio at which the vehicle travels on each of the links branched out at the branch point, the travel ratio being determined based on the travel-history information.

7. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the learning-priority information shows a priority determined based on:

a position where the recognition target is recognized; and

a travel ratio at which the vehicle travels on each of the links branched out at the branch point, the travel ratio being determined based on the travel-history information.

8. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller determines the link on which the vehicle travels by using the learning-priority information.

9. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller:

acquires general-priority information that is set based on an attribute of a road and that indicates a priority of each link branched out at the branch point; and

determines the link where the vehicle travels from among the links branched out at the branch point based on the general-priority information.

10. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller corrects the current position information based on a result of the determination of the link where the vehicle travels.

11. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the point where the link is branched is a branch having an angle of 45°

or less.

12. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller:

determines a route where the vehicle actually travels at the point where the link is branched based on the determined link; and

generates the travel-history information indicating the route where the vehicle actually travels.

13. The vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller generates the travel-history information based on an order of at least two determined links.

14. A navigation apparatus comprising the vehicle-position-recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the memory stores the road information;

the controller outputs guide information based on the determined one of the links branched out at the branch point on which the vehicle is traveling.

15. A controller-implemented vehicle-position-recognition method, comprising:

acquiring, with the controller, current position information indicating a current position of a vehicle;

acquiring, with the controller, road information indicating at least one road based on a connection relationship between plural links;

determining, with the controller, a link where the vehicle travels based on the current position information and the road information;

generating, with the controller, travel-history information indicating a route that the vehicle travels at a point where a link is branched based on the determined link;

acquiring, with the controller, an image of an area surrounding the vehicle;

recognizing, with the controller, a recognition target in the acquired image;

storing, with the controller, the generated travel-history information in a memory in association with information indicating the recognition of the recognition target; and

generating, with the controller, learning-priority information indicating a priority of each link branched out at the branch point based on the stored travel-history information and the stored recognition information, the generated learning-priority information being used to determine on which of the links branched out at the branch point that the vehicle is traveling.

16. The controller-implemented vehicle-position-recognition method according to claim 15, further comprising:

determining, with the controller, the link branched out at the branch point on which the vehicle is traveling based on the generated learning-priority information.

17. The controller-implemented vehicle-position-recognition method according to claim 15, wherein the learning-priority information shows a priority determined based on:

a position where the recognition target is recognized; and

a travel ratio at which the vehicle travels on each of the links branched out at the branch point, the travel ratio being determined based on the travel-history information.

18. The controller-implemented vehicle-position-recognition method according to claim 15, further comprising:

acquiring, with the controller, general-priority information that is set based on an attribute of a road and that indicates a priority of each link branched out at the branch point; and

determining, with the controller, the link where the vehicle travels from among the links branched out at the branch point based on the general-priority information.

19. The controller-implemented vehicle-position-recognition method according to claim 15, further comprising:

generating, with the controller, the travel-history information based on an order of at least two determined links.

20. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-executable vehicle-position-recognition program, the program comprising:

instructions for acquiring current position information indicating a current position of a vehicle;

instructions for acquiring road information indicating at least one road based on a connection relationship between plural links;

instructions for determining a link where the vehicle travels based on the current position information and the road information;

instructions for generating travel-history information indicating a route that the vehicle travels at a point where a link is branched based on the determined link;

instructions for acquiring an image of an area surrounding the vehicle;

instructions for recognizing a recognition target in the acquired image;

instructions for storing the generated travel-history information in a memory in association with information indicating the recognition of the recognition target; and

instructions for generating learning-priority information indicating a priority of each link branched out at the branch point based on the stored travel-history information and the stored recognition information, the generated learning-priority information being used to determine on which of the links branched out at the branch point that the vehicle is traveling.