Navigation of on-road vehicle based on vertical elements
First Claim
1. An apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
- a navigation unit configured to determine a position of the vehicle;
a detection unit configured to detect first objects that are external to the vehicle, and to recognize features of the first objects;
a filter unit configured to filter a portion of the first objects which include features elevated above a road by a minimum elevation as second objects that are to be identified;
a local database configured to store object reference data, the object reference data including feature data and position data identifying positions of expected objects that are expected to be detected;
an identification unit configured to identify the expected objects from the second objects based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing features of the second objects that are recognized by the detection unit to the feature data of the expected objects stored in the local database; and
a transceiver configured to communicate with a remote database and access additional object reference data stored by the remote database, the additional object reference data including additional feature data and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects, whereinthe identification unit determines a third object cannot be identified and the transceiver is configured to communicate with the remote database to access the additional object reference data, and the identification unit is configured to compare features of the third object to the additional feature data to identify the third object,the identification unit is configured to update the object reference data with updated position data in response to the identification unit determining;
the third object is one of the expected objects, andthe one of the expected objects has moved from a position previously identified by position data included in the object reference data, andthe navigation unit is further configured to update the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle can include a navigation unit configured to determine a position of the vehicle. A detection unit can be configured to recognize position and features of objects external to the vehicle. An identification unit can be configured to identify objects expected to be detected based on a determined position of the vehicle, by comparing the recognized features to feature data of object reference data stored in a local database. When the identification unit is unable to identify an object, the identification unit can compare recognized or stored object features to the additional feature data received from a remote database. A navigation unit can update the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects and more accurate and safe autonomous operation of a vehicle can be achieved.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
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a navigation unit configured to determine a position of the vehicle; a detection unit configured to detect first objects that are external to the vehicle, and to recognize features of the first objects; a filter unit configured to filter a portion of the first objects which include features elevated above a road by a minimum elevation as second objects that are to be identified; a local database configured to store object reference data, the object reference data including feature data and position data identifying positions of expected objects that are expected to be detected; an identification unit configured to identify the expected objects from the second objects based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing features of the second objects that are recognized by the detection unit to the feature data of the expected objects stored in the local database; and a transceiver configured to communicate with a remote database and access additional object reference data stored by the remote database, the additional object reference data including additional feature data and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects, wherein the identification unit determines a third object cannot be identified and the transceiver is configured to communicate with the remote database to access the additional object reference data, and the identification unit is configured to compare features of the third object to the additional feature data to identify the third object, the identification unit is configured to update the object reference data with updated position data in response to the identification unit determining; the third object is one of the expected objects, and the one of the expected objects has moved from a position previously identified by position data included in the object reference data, and the navigation unit is further configured to update the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
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navigation means for determining a position of the vehicle; detection means for detecting first objects that are external to the vehicle, and for recognizing features of the first objects; a filter means for filtering a portion of the first objects which include features elevated above a road by a minimum elevation as second objects to be identified; storage means for locally storing object reference data, the object reference data including feature data and position data identifying positions of expected objects that are expected to be detected; identification means for identifying the expected objects from the second objects based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing features of the second objects that are recognized by the detection means to the feature data of the expected objects stored in the storage means; and a transceiver for communicating with a remote database and accessing additional object reference data stored by the remote database, the additional object reference data including additional feature data and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects, wherein the identification means determines a third object cannot be identified and the transceiver communicates with the remote database to access the additional object reference data, and the identification means compares features of the third object to the additional feature data to identify the third object, the identification means updates the object reference data with updated position data in response to the identification means determining; the third object is one of the expected objects, and the one of the expected objects has moved from a position previously identified by position data included in the object reference data, and the navigation means updates the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects.
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17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including executable instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform a method for a vehicle, comprising:
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determining a position of the vehicle; detecting first objects that are external to the vehicle, and recognizing features of the first objects; filtering a portion of the first objects which include features elevated above a road by a minimum elevation as second objects to be identified; accessing, from a local database, object reference data that is stored in the local database, the object reference data including feature data and position data identifying positions of expected objects that are expected to be detected; identifying the expected objects from the second objects based on a determined position of the vehicle by comparing features of the second objects that are recognized in the recognizing to the feature data of the expected objects stored in the local database; communicating with a remote database in response to determining that a third object cannot be identified, and accessing additional object reference data of the remote database, the additional object reference data including additional feature data and corresponding position data identifying positions of respective objects; comparing features of the third object to the additional feature data to identify the third object; updating the object reference data in the local database with updated position data in response to determining; the third object is one of the expected objects, and the one of the expected objects has moved from a position previously identified by position data included in the object reference data; and updating the position of the vehicle based on position data of identified objects.
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Specification