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Lane determining device and navigation system

  • US 8,363,104 B2
  • Filed: 09/25/2009
  • Issued: 01/29/2013
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2008
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A lane determining device that determines a lane traveled by a host vehicle traveling on a road with a plurality of lanes in each direction, the lane determining device comprising:

  • imaging means that images the road;

    road geometry obtaining means that obtains a road geometry ahead of where the host vehicle is traveling;

    division line recognition means that recognizes a division line from an image imaged by the imaging means;

    first path computation means that computes a path of the host vehicle by repeatedly computing a distance from the division line recognized by the division line recognition means to the imaging means;

    second path computation means that computes a path of the host vehicle based on autonomous navigation;

    third path computation means that computes a path of the host vehicle based on a first path computed by the first path computation means and on a second path computed by the second path computation means;

    traveled lane determination means that determines the lane traveled by the host vehicle based on a third path computed by the third path computation means;

    travel direction estimation means that estimates a travel direction of the host vehicle based on the first path computed by the first path computation means;

    initialization means that initializes at least one of a heading and a position of the autonomous navigation based on the travel direction of the host vehicle estimated by the travel direction estimation means and on the first path; and

    information notification means that notifies information to a passenger using a screen or audio, whereinthe third path computation means computes the third path based on the first path if the division line recognition means was able to recognize a division line, and computes the third path based on the second path if the division line recognition means was unable to recognize a division line, the third path computation means comprising vehicle speed detection means that detects a speed of the host vehicle, and heading detection means that detects a heading of the host vehicle,the autonomous navigation computes a path of the host vehicle based on the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means and on the heading detected by the heading detection means,the initialization means takes the first path computed by the first path computation means as an initial value for a path of the autonomous navigation if a difference between the travel direction of the host vehicle estimated by the travel direction estimation means and a direction of the division line recognized by the division line recognition means is within a predetermined angle, or if a change in the difference between the directions is less than a predetermined value over a predetermined period or travel distance,based on a kind of the division line recognized by the division line recognition means, the traveled lane determination means determines the lane traveled by the host vehicle and corrects the third path computed by the third path computation means,the information notification means changes a content of the information to be notified to the passenger based on the lane traveled by the host vehicle determined by the traveled lane determination means, andthe second path computation means computes a path of the host vehicle based on the road geometry obtained by the road geometry obtaining means and on the autonomous navigation.

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