Quantifying intersection cost

• US 8,831,874 B1
• Filed: 05/04/2012
• Issued: 09/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Pettis, Nathaniel E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Marc-Coleman, Marthe
• Application Number:
  US13/464,851
• Time in Patent Office: 858 Days
• Field of Search: 701/400, 701408-410, 701/532, 701/533, 340/909, 340/907, 340/917, 340/937
• US Class Current: 701/410
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries

Abstract

Aspects of the subject technology relate to a systems, methods, and machine-readable media for determining a cost for an intersection. A system may be configured to identify an intersection area for an intersection associated with a set of location signals associated with a user, determine an amount of time the user spent in the intersection area based on a first approaching location signal, a second of approaching location signal, a first departing location signal, and a second departing location signal, and determine, using a processor, a cost for the intersection based on the amount of time the user spent in the intersection area.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining a time spent in an intersection, the method comprising:

identifying an intersection area for an intersection associated with a set of location signals for a device;

identifying a first approaching location signal and a second approaching location signal from the set of location signals, wherein the first approaching location signal is outside of the intersection area and the second approaching location signal is within the intersection area;

identifying a first departing location signal and a second departing location signal from the set of location signals, wherein the first departing location signal is within the intersection area and the second departing location signal is outside of the intersection area;

determining, using a processor, a first amount of time a user spent traveling from an entrance point of the intersection area to the second approaching location signal based on a speed of travel between the first approaching location signal and the second approaching location signal;

determining, using the processor, a second amount of time the user spent traveling from the second approaching location signal to the first departing location signal;

determining, using the processor, a third amount of time the user spent traveling from the first departing location signal to an exit point of the intersection area based on a speed of travel between the first departing location signal and the second departing location signal; and

determining, using the processor, a time spent in the intersection based on the first amount of time, the second amount of time, and the third amount of time.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first approaching location signal and the second approaching location signal are consecutive location signals in the set of location signals, and wherein the first departing location signal and the second departing location signal are consecutive location signals in the set of location signals.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of the intersection area for the intersection associated with the set of location signals comprises determining that at least one location signal in the set of location signals is within the intersection area.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one location signal in the set of location signals is a Global Positioning System (GPS) location signal.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the intersection area for the intersection is defined as an area within a threshold distance of location coordinates for the intersection.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising storing the time spent in the intersection in a record for the intersection located in a mapping data repository.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the time spent in the intersection is associated with a particular maneuver at the intersection.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the time spent in the intersection is associated with a particular category of time.

9. A system for determining a time spent in an intersection, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

identifying an intersection area for an intersection associated with a set of location signals associated with a user;

identifying a first approaching location signal and a second approaching location signal from the set of location signals, wherein the first approaching location signal is outside of the intersection area and the second approaching location signal is within the intersection area;

identifying a first departing location signal and a second departing location signal from the set of location signals, wherein the first departing location signal is within the intersection area and the second departing location signal is outside of the intersection area;

determining a first period of time a user spent traveling from an entrance point of the intersection area to the second approaching location signal based on a speed of travel between the first approaching location signal and the second approaching location signal;

determining a second period of time the user spent traveling from the second approaching location signal to the first departing location signal;

determining a third period of time the user spent traveling from the first departing location signal to an exit point of the intersection area based on a speed of travel between the first departing location signal and the second departing location signal; and

determining an amount of time the user spent in the intersection area based on the first period of time, the second period of time, and the third period of time.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first approaching location signal and the second approaching location signal are consecutive location signals in the set of location signals, and wherein the first departing location signal and the second departing location signal are consecutive location signals in the set of location signals.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the identifying of the intersection area for the intersection associated with the set of location signals comprises:

determining that location coordinates for the intersection are within a threshold distance of at least one location signal in the set of location signals; and

identifying, in response to the determining that the location coordinates for the intersection are within the threshold distance of the at least one location signal, the intersection area for the intersection.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the time spent in the intersection is associated with at least one of a particular maneuver at the intersection or a particular category of time.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein each location signal in the set of location signals is associated with a timestamp.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

identifying an intersection area for an intersection associated with a set of location signals for a device;

identifying a first approaching location signal and a second approaching location signal from the set of location signals, wherein the first approaching location signal is outside of the intersection area and the second approaching location signal is within the intersection area;

identifying a first departing location signal and a second departing location signal from the set of location signals, wherein the first departing location signal is within the intersection area and the second departing location signal is outside of the intersection area;

determining a first amount of time a user spent traveling from an entrance point of the intersection area to the second approaching location signal based on a speed of travel between the first approaching location signal and the second approaching location signal;

determining a second amount of time the user spent traveling from the second approaching location signal to the first departing location signal;

determining a third amount of time the user spent traveling from the first departing location signal to an exit point of the intersection area based on a speed of travel between the first departing location signal and the second departing location signal; and

determining a cost for the intersection based on a time spent by a user in the intersection, wherein the time is based on the first amount of time, the second amount of time, and the third amount of time.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the identifying of the intersection area for the intersection associated with the set of location signals comprises:

determining that location coordinates for the intersection are within a threshold distance of at least one location signal in the set of location signals; and

identifying, in response to the determining that the location coordinates for the intersection are within the threshold distance of the at least one location signal, the intersection area for the intersection.