Operation of a vehicle by classifying a preceding vehicle lane

• US 9,981,660 B2
• Filed: 08/30/2016
• Issued: 05/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan North America Incorporated (Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Damiani, Andrew, Goudy, Roy, Probert, Neal
• Primary Examiner(s): Patton, Spencer D
• Application Number:
  US15/251,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20180056999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 637 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2754/10 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2754/30 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9321 Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9323 Alternative operation using light waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9324 Alternative operation using ultrasonic waves

Abstract

Operating a host vehicle is described as including identifying remote vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for a remote vehicle and identifying host vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for the host vehicle. For a sequence of sampling points, a distance between the remote vehicle and the host vehicle within a transportation network is determined based on the remote vehicle information and the host vehicle information, an angle from a centerline extending from the host vehicle for the distance is calculated, the angle varying as a function of the distance, and a conically-shaped zone is determined using the angle. Responsive to the remote vehicle being located within the conically-shaped zone, the host vehicle is operated based on the remote vehicle being in a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling. The host vehicle is behind the remote vehicle in a direction of travel. A method, vehicle, and apparatus are described.

Claims

1. A method for operating a host vehicle, comprising:

identifying remote vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for a remote vehicle;

identifying host vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for the host vehicle;

for a sequence of sampling points;

determining a distance between the remote vehicle and the host vehicle within a transportation network based on the remote vehicle information and the host vehicle information, the host vehicle behind the remote vehicle in a direction of travel;

calculating an angle from a centerline extending from the host vehicle for the distance, the angle varying as a function of the distance; and

determining a conically-shaped zone using the angle, wherein the conically-shaped zone diverges from the host vehicle; and

responsive to the remote vehicle being located within the conically-shaped zone, operating the host vehicle based on the remote vehicle being in a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the function is a step-wise function of the distance such that a range of values for the distance is associated with a single value for the angle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the function comprises a step-wise function formed of a catenation of terms including respective ranges of values for the distance as inputs.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the function further comprises a term including a trigonometric function arctan(2/x) for a first range of values between zero and a first distance value, wherein x is the distance.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the respective ranges of values are determined so as to maintain an outer range of the conically-shaped zone within a defined range of values based on a width of the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the remote vehicle being located outside the conically-shaped zone, concluding that the remote vehicle is not in the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

inputting a signal to a vehicle control system identifying the remote vehicle as being in the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining a first conically-shaped zone using a first angle calculated using a first distance, using the first angle for determining the conically-shaped zone until one or more angles smaller than the first angle are calculated for a defined number of contiguous sampling points of the sequence.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the function is a step-wise function of the distance such that a range of values for the distance has a single output value for the angle, the method further comprising:

responsive to the one or more angles smaller than the first angle being calculated for the defined number of contiguous sampling points of the sequence, using a second angle to determine the conically-shaped zone, the second angle being the single output value of the step-wise function that is adjacent to and smaller than the first angle.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the remote vehicle being located within a first conically-shaped zone determined using a first angle calculated using a first distance, using a second angle calculated for a next sampling point in the sequence only if the second angle is larger than the first angle.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the remote vehicle is located within the conically-shaped zone using the remote vehicle information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the remote vehicle is located within the conically-shaped zone comprises comparing an angle between the centerline and a position of the remote vehicle and the angle used to determine the conically-shaped zone.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ending the sequence of sampling points responsive to the distance having a maximum value.

14. A host vehicle, comprising:

a powertrain;

a sensor; and

an operation system to operate the host vehicle, the operation system configured to;

identify remote vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for a remote vehicle;

identify, using at least the sensor, host vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for the host vehicle;

for a sequence of sampling points;

determine a distance between the remote vehicle and the host vehicle within a transportation network based on the remote vehicle information and the host vehicle information, the host vehicle behind the remote vehicle in a direction of travel; and

calculate an angle from a centerline extending from the host vehicle for the distance, the angle varying as a function of the distance;

responsive to the remote vehicle being located within a first conically-shaped zone determined by a first angle calculated at a first sampling point of the sequence, operate the host vehicle based on the remote vehicle being in a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling;

responsive to calculating a second angle larger than the first angle at a second sampling point of the sequence;

determine whether the remote vehicle remains in the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling by determining whether the remote vehicle is located within a second conically-shaped zone determined by the second angle; and

responsive to calculating a third angle smaller than the first angle at the second sampling point of the sequence;

determine whether the remote vehicle remains in the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling by determining whether the remote vehicle is located within the first conically-shaped zone determined by the first angle.

15. The vehicle of claim 14, wherein the operation system is configured to operate the host vehicle based on the remote vehicle being in the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling by generating a converging path for the remote vehicle and the host vehicle and transmitting a control signal to the powertrain.

16. The vehicle of claim 14, wherein the function is a step-wise function of the distance such that a range of values for the distance has a single output value for the angle.

17. An apparatus for controlling a host vehicle, comprising:

a processor; and

memory storing instructions that cause the processor to perform a method comprising;

identifying remote vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for a remote vehicle;

identifying host vehicle information indicating at least a geospatial state for the host vehicle;

for a sequence of sampling points;

determining a distance between the remote vehicle and the host vehicle within a transportation network based on the remote vehicle information and the host vehicle information, the host vehicle behind the remote vehicle in a direction of travel;

calculating an angle from a centerline extending from the host vehicle for the distance, the angle varying as a function of the distance; and

determining a conically-shaped zone using the angle, wherein the conically-shaped zone diverges from the host vehicle; and

operating the host vehicle based on the remote vehicle being in a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling as long as the remote vehicle remains within the conically-shaped zone.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the function comprises a catenation of terms including:

a first term comprising a trigonometric function arctan(y/x) for a first range of values for the distance between zero and a first distance value, wherein x is the distance and y is a distance from the centerline of the host vehicle in the direction of travel based on a width of the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling; and

a plurality of additional terms forming a step-wise function, each of the plurality of additional terms generating a respective single value for the angle for a respective range of values for the distance as inputs.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein each range of values is based on maintaining an outer range of the conically-shaped zone at a width wider than a width of the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions cause the processor to perform a method further comprising:

responsive to the angle calculated for a current sampling point being greater than the angle used to determine the conically-shaped zone for a previous sampling point, using the angle calculated for the current sampling point for determining the conically-shaped zone used to determine whether the remote vehicle is in the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling; and

responsive to the angle calculated for a current sampling point being less than the angle used to determine the conically-shaped zone for a previous sampling point, using the conically-shaped zone for the previous sampling point to determine whether the remote vehicle is in the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.