Lane identification method and related apparatus thereof

• US 9,785,844 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2016
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Inventors: Su, Tse-Chung
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Hee-Yong
• Application Number:
  US15/012,774
• Publication Number:
  US 20160148061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 617 Days
• Field of Search: 348148
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30256 Lane; Road marking
• 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 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

A lane identification method for identifying a lane whereon a vehicle is traveling, which includes: providing a drive video; generating an identification result of recognizing a plurality of lane lines corresponding to the line according the drive video, wherein the identification result is generated based on inside borderlines of the lane lines; and determining the lane according to the identification result.

Claims

1. A lane departure warning method for a vehicle, comprising:

providing a drive video;

generating an identification result of recognizing a plurality of lane lines according the drive video, wherein the identification result is generated based on inside borderlines of the lane lines, comprising;

generating a processed drive video which includes a plurality of objects;

determining a video central axis of the processed drive video;

selecting a plurality of candidate lane line segments from the objects according to the video central axis, comprising;

when there is no other object between an inside borderline of a specific object of the objects and the video central axis, determining the specific object is one of the candidate lane line segments; and

generating the identification result according to the plurality of candidate lane line segments;

determining a lane whereon the vehicle is traveling according to the identification result;

determining a sensitivity of lane departure warning according to a speed at which the vehicle is traveling; and

determining whether to issue a warning according to the determined lane and the sensitivity.

2. The lane departure warning method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the processed drive video comprises:

performing a pre-processing operation upon the drive video, which selects the objects from the drive video that meet a specific brightness requirement and a specific geometry requirement.

3. The lane departure warning method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining that the specific object is one of the candidate lane line segments comprises:

when the specific object is located at a left side of the video center axis, determining the specific object is one of candidate the lane line segments if there is no other object between a right borderline of the specific object and the video central axis; and

when the specific object is located at a right side of the video center axis, determining the specific object is one of the candidate lane line segments if there is no other object between a left borderline of the specific object and the video central axis.

4. The lane departure warning method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the identification result according to the candidate lane line segments comprises:

checking if there is any specific geometric relationship between the candidate lane line segments; and

treating the candidate lane line segments as a lane line when there is specific geometric relationship between the candidate lane line segments.

5. The lane departure warning method of claim 4, wherein the specific geometric relationship comprises angle relationship with respect to the video central axis and neighboring relationship with respect to other candidate lane line segments.

6. A lane departure warning apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

an identification module, for generating an identification result of recognizing a plurality of lane lines according a drive video, wherein the identification result is generated based on inside borderlines of the lane lines;

a video processing module, for generating a processed drive video which includes a plurality of objects;

a determination module, coupled to the identification module, for determining a lane whereon the vehicle is traveling according to the identification result;

determining a video central axis of the processed drive video;

selecting a plurality of candidate lane line segments from the objects according to the video central axis by determining a specific object is one of the candidate lane line segments when there is no other object between an inside borderline of a specific object of the objects and the video central axis;

generating the identification result according to the plurality of candidate lane line segments;

determining a sensitivity of lane departure warning according to a speed at which the vehicle is traveling; and

determining whether to issue a warning according to the determined lane and the sensitivity.

7. The lane departure warning apparatus of claim 6, wherein the video processing module performs a pre-processing operation upon the drive video, which selects the objects from the drive video that meet a specific brightness requirement and a specific geometry requirement.

8. The lane departure warning apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

when the specific object is located at a left side of the video center axis, the identification module determines the specific object is one of candidate the lane line segments if there is no other object between a right borderline of the specific object and the video central axis; and

when the specific object is located at a right side of the video center axis, the identification module determines the specific object is one of the candidate lane line segments if there is no other object between a left borderline of the specific object and the video central axis.

9. The lane departure warning apparatus of claim 6, wherein the identification module checks if there is any specific geometric relationship between the candidate lane line segments;

treats the candidate lane line segments as a lane line when there is specific geometric relationship between the candidate lane line segments.

10. The lane departure warning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the specific geometric relationship comprises angle relationship with respect to the video central axis and neighboring relationship with respect to other candidate lane line segments.