Data mining in a digital map database to identify insufficient merge lanes along roads and enabling precautionary actions in a vehicle
First Claim
1. A method for making an augmented version of a database that is operable as a component in a vehicle system that provides a precautionary action in a vehicle when the vehicle approaches a potentially hazardous location, wherein the potentially hazardous location comprises one at which two conditions are present at a same location along a road network in a geographic region wherein one of the two conditions comprises absence of a traffic signal and another of the two conditions comprises a merge lane of insufficient dimensions, the method comprising:
- with a computer operating under programming instructions, selecting data contained in a first version of a database to identify locations of intersections located throughout the geographic region where roads meet without a traffic signal and without a sufficient merge lane; and
forming, prior to the vehicle'"'"'s approach to the potentially hazardous location, the augmented version of the database by adding precautionary action data to the database to indicate said potentially hazardous locations at which a precautionary action is to be taken by the vehicle system such that a determination can be made by the vehicle system whether to take a precautionary action based on an evaluation of the precautionary data in the augmented version of the database at a later time when the vehicle is at or near the potentially hazardous location.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a feature for a vehicle that enables taking precautionary actions in response to conditions on the road network around or ahead of the vehicle, in particular, an intersection without traffic signals and without a sufficient merge lane. A database that represents the road network is used to determine locations where roads meet without a traffic signal and without a sufficient merge lane. Then, precautionary action data is added to the database to indicate a location at which a precautionary action is to be taken about the location of the insufficient merge lane. A precautionary action system installed in a vehicle uses this database, or a database derived therefrom, in combination with a positioning system to determine when the vehicle is at a location that corresponds to the location of a precautionary action. When the vehicle is at such a location, a precautionary action is taken by a vehicle system as the vehicle is approaching a location of an insufficient merge lane.
117 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for making an augmented version of a database that is operable as a component in a vehicle system that provides a precautionary action in a vehicle when the vehicle approaches a potentially hazardous location, wherein the potentially hazardous location comprises one at which two conditions are present at a same location along a road network in a geographic region wherein one of the two conditions comprises absence of a traffic signal and another of the two conditions comprises a merge lane of insufficient dimensions, the method comprising:
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with a computer operating under programming instructions, selecting data contained in a first version of a database to identify locations of intersections located throughout the geographic region where roads meet without a traffic signal and without a sufficient merge lane; and forming, prior to the vehicle'"'"'s approach to the potentially hazardous location, the augmented version of the database by adding precautionary action data to the database to indicate said potentially hazardous locations at which a precautionary action is to be taken by the vehicle system such that a determination can be made by the vehicle system whether to take a precautionary action based on an evaluation of the precautionary data in the augmented version of the database at a later time when the vehicle is at or near the potentially hazardous location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A database stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the database includes data that represents a road network in a geographic region and wherein the database is operable as a component in a vehicle system that provides warnings when approaching potentially hazardous locations, wherein the database comprises:
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data records that represent road segments that make up the road network; data that indicates merge lanes along the road segments; and data that indicates precautionary action locations, wherein a precautionary action location is associated with a location at which two conditions are present at a same location, wherein one of the two conditions comprises no merge lane or an insufficient merge lane and another of the two conditions comprises an intersection of roads without a traffic signal, such that the vehicle system need only perform a single evaluation to determine whether the precautionary data exists in the database to determine whether a precautionary action is to be taken upon approach to the potentially hazardous location. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A vehicle system comprising:
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a database that contains data representing a geographic region in which a vehicle is being operated, wherein the data includes data that represents a road network located in the geographic region and precautionary action data that indicates precautionary action locations associated with locations where insufficient merge lanes exist at intersections of roads without traffic signals such that the vehicle system need only perform a single evaluation to determine whether the precautionary data exists in the database to determine whether a precautionary action is to be taken upon approach to the potentially hazardous location; a positioning system that determines a current location of the vehicle relative to the data in the database representing a geographic region; and a precautionary action application executed on a processor and responsive to the positioning system and the database wherein the precautionary action application determines whether the precautionary data exists in the database in associate with the current location of the vehicle and, based thereon, provides a precautionary action when the positioning system determines that the precautionary data exists in the database indicative that the current location of the vehicle is approaching an intersection without a traffic signal and with an insufficient merge lane. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method performed with a program executed on a processor in a vehicle system for providing precautionary actions in a vehicle comprising:
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accessing a database that includes data representations of a road network; determining a current position of the vehicle relative to the road network represented by the database; and upon determining that data representations of a part of the road network around the current position of the vehicle includes precautionary action data, the precautionary action data being indicative of an upcoming intersection without traffic signals and without a sufficient merge lane, taking a precautionary action, based on the inclusion of precautionary action data in the data representation of the part of the road network around the current position of the vehicle as the vehicle is approaching the intersection. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification