On-board traffic density estimator
First Claim
1. A method for an electronic controller in a host vehicle to determine a traffic density, comprising the steps of:
- a sensor remotely sensing objects within a field of view around the host vehicle;
identifying positions of nearby vehicles from among the sensed objects;
predicting a path of a host lane being driven by the host vehicle;
the electronic controller binning the nearby vehicles into a plurality of lanes including the host lane and at least one adjacent lane flanking the predicted path;
the electronic controller determining a host lane distance in response to a position of a farthest vehicle relative to the host vehicle that is binned to the host lane;
the electronic controller determining an adjacent lane distance in response to a difference between a closest position in an adjacent lane that is within the field of view and a position of a farthest vehicle binned to the adjacent lane;
the electronic controller indicating a traffic density in response to a ratio between a count of the binned vehicles and a sum of the distances.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Traffic density is estimated around a host vehicle moving on a roadway. An object detection system remotely senses and identifies the positions of nearby vehicles. A controller a) predicts a path of a host lane being driven by the host vehicle, b) bins the nearby vehicles into a plurality of lanes including the host lane and one or more adjacent lanes flanking the predicted path, c) determines a host lane distance in response to a position of a farthest vehicle that is binned to the host lane, d) determines an adjacent lane distance in response to a difference between a closest position in an adjacent lane that is within the field of view and a position of a farthest vehicle binned to the adjacent lane, and e) indicates a traffic density in response to a ratio between a count of the binned vehicles and a sum of the distances.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for an electronic controller in a host vehicle to determine a traffic density, comprising the steps of:
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a sensor remotely sensing objects within a field of view around the host vehicle; identifying positions of nearby vehicles from among the sensed objects; predicting a path of a host lane being driven by the host vehicle; the electronic controller binning the nearby vehicles into a plurality of lanes including the host lane and at least one adjacent lane flanking the predicted path; the electronic controller determining a host lane distance in response to a position of a farthest vehicle relative to the host vehicle that is binned to the host lane; the electronic controller determining an adjacent lane distance in response to a difference between a closest position in an adjacent lane that is within the field of view and a position of a farthest vehicle binned to the adjacent lane; the electronic controller indicating a traffic density in response to a ratio between a count of the binned vehicles and a sum of the distances. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. Apparatus comprising:
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sensor in a host vehicle; and a controller receiving identification of nearby vehicles from the sensor, predicting a host lane path, binning vehicles into a host lane and adjacent lanes, determining a host lane distance and adjacent lane distances in response to positions of farthest vehicles in the respective lanes, and indicating a traffic density in response to a ratio between a count of binned vehicles and a sum of the distances.
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12. An apparatus for monitoring traffic density around a host vehicle, comprising:
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an object detection system, in the host vehicle, using remote sensing within a field of view around the host vehicle to identify positions of nearby vehicles; and a controller, in the host vehicle, coupled to the object detection system for a) predicting a path of a host lane being driven by the host vehicle, b) binning the nearby vehicles into a plurality of lanes including the host lane and at least one adjacent lane flanking the predicted path, c) determining a host lane distance in response to a position of a farthest vehicle relative to the host vehicle that is binned to the host lane, d) determining an adjacent lane distance in response to a difference between a closest position in an adjacent lane that is within the field of view and a position of a farthest vehicle binned to the adjacent lane, and e) indicating a traffic density in response to a ratio between a count of the binned vehicles and a sum of the distances. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification