System and method for determining position and distance of objects using road fiducials

• US 9,207,679 B1
• Filed: 10/07/2014
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Chatham, Andrew Hughes
• Primary Examiner(s): Marc-Coleman, Marthe
• Application Number:
  US14/508,269
• Time in Patent Office: 427 Days
• Field of Search: 701/28, 701/1, 701/23, 701/26, 701/301, 701/96, 348/113, 348/148, 382/104, 349/436, 349/903
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/42 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/53 Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4026 Cycles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4029 Pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/00 Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0027 using trajectory prediction for other traffic participants
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0234 using optical markers or beacons optical beacons per se G01S1/70
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

Aspects of the invention relate generally to autonomous vehicles. The features described improve the safety, use, driver experience, and performance of these vehicles by using ground markers to determine the position of the surrounding objects. In particular, the autonomous vehicle is capable of detecting nearby objects, such as vehicles and pedestrians, and is able to determine the position of these objects based on whether they have passed over ground markers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting an object traveling on a road in a vicinity of a vehicle;

identifying, with at least one of a camera or a sensor, whether a ground marker on a surface of the road is visible;

determining, by one or more processors, that the object has effected in the visibility of the ground marker;

identifying, by the one or more processors, position data for the ground marker; and

determining, with the one or more processors, at least one of a geographic position of the object or a relative position of the object to the vehicle based on the position data and the effect of the object on the visibility of the ground marker.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first object is one of an automobile, a pedestrian, or a bicycle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the effect on the visibility of the ground marker is due to the object passing over the ground marker.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining one or more of a shape, color, size, and orientation of the ground marker; and

wherein identifying the position data includes accessing position data that represents the ground marker having the determined shape, color, size, and/or orientation.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a geographic position of the vehicle; and

identifying the vehicle'"'"'s proximity to the object by comparing the position of the object with the geographic position of the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the geographic position of the vehicle is based, at least in part, on the position data of the ground marker.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising autonomously controlling operation of the vehicle based on the determined geographic or relative position of the object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the ground marker is one of a plurality of ground markers that appear near the center of a traffic lane.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operable to:

determine the vehicle'"'"'s proximity to the object based on the determined geographic or relative position of the object; and

control the operation of the vehicle based on the vehicle'"'"'s proximity to the object.

10. A system comprising:

a camera for detecting a plurality of ground markers on a surface of a road;

a memory for storing position data for the plurality of ground markers; and

a processor in communication with the camera and the memory, the processor being operable to;

receive, over a network, updated ground marker data from a remote computing device;

store the updated ground marker data in the memory;

determine, based on the updated ground marker data, whether a first ground marker, from the plurality of ground markers, is visible to the camera;

identify when an object traveling on the road in a vicinity of a vehicle has caused a change in the visibility of the first ground marker;

identifying the position data for the first ground marker; and

determine at least one of a geographic position of the object or a relative position of the object to the vehicle based on the accessed position data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the detected plurality of ground markers are located in one or more traffic lanes and are one or more of varying shapes, colors, sizes, and orientations.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the database identifies at least one of the shape, color, size, or orientation for each of the plurality of ground markers, and wherein the processor is further operable to determine one or more of the shape, color, size, and orientation of the detected plurality of ground markers.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the updated ground marker data relates to at least one of a position and an appearance of one or more ground markers from the plurality.

14. A method comprising:

identifying, with at least one of a camera or a sensor, a plurality of ground markers on a surface of a road, wherein the plurality of ground markers are positioned so that at least one or more ground markers from the plurality become at least partially obscured, from the perspective of a vehicle, by a first object traveling along the road; and

accessing, by one or more processors, the positions of the plurality of ground markers in one or more databases; and

determining, by the one or more processors, a geographic position of the first object or a relative position of the first object based on the positions of the one or more ground markers and based on the one or more ground markers being at least partially obscured by the first object.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a geographic position of the vehicle; and

identifying the vehicle'"'"'s proximity to the object by comparing the position of the first object with the geographic position of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more ground markers are obscured by the first object due to the first object passing over the one or more ground markers.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of ground markers are arranged so that at least one of a shape, color, size, and orientation of each ground marker varies from least one other ground marker from the plurality.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein storing the positions of the plurality of ground markers further comprises storing data relating to at least one of the shape, color, size, and orientation of each ground marker.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining a geographic position of the vehicle is based, at least in part, on the position data of at least one ground marker.