Adjusting turn indicators in view of road geometry

• US 8,880,347 B1
• Filed: 07/24/2013
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Steinmetz, William H., Hightower, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Application Number:
  US13/949,915
• Time in Patent Office: 468 Days
• Field of Search: 701/400, 701409-410
• US Class Current: 701/533
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3632 Guidance using simplified or iconic instructions, e.g. using arrows G01C21/365 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to generating graphical turn indicators associated with road junctions having an on-route road segment and multiple off-route road segments extending from a center of the road junction. More particularly, the present disclosure provides graphical turn indicators that represent road junctions having multiple road segments that extend from a center of the road junction within close angular proximity with respect to one another. Each road segment of a road junction is mapped to a unique graphical element of the graphical turn indicator and each graphical element represents a particular turn type.

Claims

1. A method in a computing device for generating a graphical turn indicator to illustrate a maneuver at a road junction that interconnects a plurality of road segments including a first road segment and a second road segment, the method comprising:

determining, based on the geometry of the road junction, in which circular sector each of the plurality of road segments lies to generate a mapping between the plurality of road segments and a multiplicity of circular sectors, wherein each of the multiplicity of circular sectors corresponds to a different turn type;

in response to determining that the first road segment and the second road segment are mapped to a shared circular sector, associating the first road segment with a circular sector adjacent to the shared circular sector to generate an adjusted mapping between the plurality of road segments and the multiplicity of circular sectors; and

generating the graphical turn indicator according to the adjusted mapping, including generating different graphical elements for different turn types indicated by the graphical turn indicator.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the turn type is selected from a set that consists of sharp left, left, slight left, straight, slight right, right, sharp right, and u-turn.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating different graphical elements includes generating different arrows pointing in the available directions of travel through the road junction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjacent circular sector is one of (i) a first adjacent circular sector positioned clockwise of the shared circular sector and (ii) a second adjacent circular sector positioned counter-clockwise of the shared circular sector, wherein each of the first adjacent circular sector and the second adjacent circular sector abuts the shared circular sector on a respective side;

the method further comprising;

selecting the adjacent sector from among the first adjacent circular sector and the second adjacent circular sector.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining proximity of the first road segment to the first adjacent circular sector and the second adjacent circular sector;

determining proximity of the second road segment to the first adjacent circular sector and the second adjacent circular sector; and

associating the first road segment with the adjacent circular sector in response to determining that the first road segment is more proximate to the adjacent circular sector than the second road segment is to the first adjacent circular sector and to the second adjacent circular sector.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein associating the first road segment with the adjacent circular sector is further in response to determining that the first road segment and the second road segment correspond to off-route turns.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein associating the first road segment with the adjacent circular sector is in response to determining that the first road segment corresponds to an off-route turn and the second road segment corresponds to an on-route turn.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second road segment is more proximate to the adjacent circular sector than the first road segment is to the first adjacent circular sector and to the second adjacent circular sector.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first road segment and the second road segment correspond to different outgoing lanes relative to a direction of travel.

10. A computer-readable medium storing thereon instructions for generating graphical turn indicators to illustrate maneuvers at road junctions, wherein the instructions, when executed on one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive turn-by-turn driving directions that specify a route between an origin and a destination, wherein the route includes a plurality of road junctions, each road junction interconnecting several road segments; and

generate graphical turn indicators for the plurality of road junctions, including;

render a respective arrow for each turn type the maneuver includes at a road junction, in accordance with the geometry of the road junction, wherein each turn type is selected from a finite, circularly ordered set of turn types, and

when the maneuver includes two outgoing turns that correspond to a same shared turn type, render, for one of the two outgoing turns, an arrow for a turn type adjacent to the shared turn type in the circularly ordered set.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the circularly ordered set of turn types includes a plurality of sub-types of a left turn and a plurality of sub-types of a right turn.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the circularly ordered set of turn types consists of sharp left, left, slight left, straight, slight right, right, sharp right, and u-turn.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein to generate the arrow for the adjacent turn type, the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

select, from among the two outgoing turns, an outgoing turn based on proximity of each of the two outgoing turns to the turn type disposed clockwise of the shared turn type in the circularly ordered set and the turn type disposed counter-clockwise of the shared turn type in the circularly ordered set.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the two outgoing turns correspond are off-route turns.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the two outgoing turns include an on-route turn and an off-route turn, and wherein the outgoing turn for which the arrow for the adjacent turn type is rendered is off-route.

16. A method in a computing device for schematically indicating turn types available for a maneuver at a road junction interconnecting a plurality of road segments, the method comprising:

for each outbound road segment at the road junction, determining a mapping between the outbound road segment and one of a finite, circularly ordered set of turn types, in accordance with the geometry of the road junction;

in response to determining that two outbound road segments at the road junction map to a same turn type, re-mapping a selected one of the two outbound road segments to a different turn type; and

causing different schematic indicators to be generated for those in the set of turn types to which outbound road segments are mapped.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein each in the set of turn types corresponds to a respective circular sector, and wherein the circular sectors corresponding to the set of turn types together form a complete circle.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the circularly ordered set of turn types consists of sharp left, left, slight left, straight, slight right, right, sharp right, and u-turn, and

re-mapping the selected outbound road segment to the different turn type includes changing the turn type to which the selected outbound road segment is mapped to one of predecessor or a successor of the turn type in the set, based on whether the road segment is closer to the clockwise boundary of the circular sector to which it is mapped or the counter-clockwise boundary of the circular sector.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the selected road segment corresponds to an off-route turn and the other one of the two outbound road segments corresponds to an on-route turn.

20. The method of claim 16 implemented in a network server, wherein causing the different schematic indicators to be generated includes providing data that identifies the different schematic indicators to be transmitted to a client device.