Early detection of exit only and shared lanes using perception technology

• US 10,152,638 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2018
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG), Volkswagen AG
• Original Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG), Volkswagen AG
• Inventors: Raghu, Kaushik, Daraei, Mohammadhossein, Natarajan, Premkumar, Lopez, Norman
• Primary Examiner(s): Duley, Janese
• Application Number:
  US16/012,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20180300559A1
• Time in Patent Office: 174 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/60 Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18154 Approaching an intersection
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18163 Lane change; Overtaking manoeuvres
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/30 Noise filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/56 relating to colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/582 of traffic signs
• 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

Abstract

An in-vehicle system for identifying exit-only lanes and shared exit lanes on a roadway having a first camera for obtaining image data regarding lane markings on the roadway, a second camera for obtaining image data regarding exit signs, a lane marking detection module for detecting lane markings on the roadway, an exit sign detection module for detecting exit signs, and an exit sign analyzer for detecting arrows on the detected exit signs. The in-vehicle system categorizes detected lane markings as one of standard frequency dashed lane markings, high frequency dashed lane markings, and solid lane markings, and identifies an exit-only lane and a shared exit lane in response to the categorizations of the detected lane markings and characteristics of the detected arrows.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle system for identifying exit-only lanes and shared exit lanes on a roadway, the system comprising:

a first camera for obtaining image data regarding lane markings on the roadway;

a second camera for obtaining image data regarding exit signs;

a lane marking detection module for detecting lane markings on the roadway;

an exit sign detection module for detecting exit signs;

an exit sign analyzer for detecting arrows on the detected exit signs; and

a processor and a non-transitory data storage on which is stored computer code which, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to categorize detected lane markings as one of standard frequency dashed lane markings, high frequency dashed lane markings, and solid lane markings and for identifying an exit-only lane and a shared exit lane in response to the categorizations of the detected lane markings and characteristics of the detected arrows.

2. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, wherein when approaching an exit that departs on a right side of the roadway, the in-vehicle system:

identifies a neighboring right lane as the exit-only lane in response to high frequency dashed lane markings being detected on a right side of a vehicle, and

identifies a presently occupied lane as the exit-only lane in response to high frequency dashed lane markings being detected on a left side of the vehicle.

3. The in-vehicle system of claim 2, wherein the in-vehicle system determines a location of the shared exit lane based on whether the high frequency dashed lane markings are detected on the right side of the vehicle or the left side of the vehicle.

4. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle system identifies the shared exit lane in response to detecting two arrows corresponding to two respective lanes on one of the detected exit signs.

5. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the system engages an in-vehicle autonomous vehicle system to assume control of a vehicle based on the identified lane markings, and causes the autonomous vehicle system to maintain the autonomous vehicle in lane,

wherein the in-vehicle system also identifies lane types on the roadway,

wherein the processor and non-transitory data storage on which store computer code which, when executed on the processor, cause the in-vehicle system to:

identify the exit-only lane in response to detecting lane markings on a side of the vehicle characteristic of exit-only lanes; and

determine whether the identified exit-only lane is a presently occupied lane or a neighboring lane based on the side of the vehicle on which the characteristic lane markings are detected.

6. The in-vehicle system of claim 5, wherein the in-vehicle autonomous vehicle system is configured to maintain the vehicle in a lane on the roadway without taking an exit, wherein in response to a determination that the presently occupied lane is a shared exit lane, the computer code, when executed on the processor, causes the system configured to maintain the vehicle in the lane to follow lane markings that stay on the roadway and to ignore lane markings that exit the roadway.

7. The in-vehicle system of claim 5, wherein the computer code, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to:

receive an indication that an exit is approaching on either a left side or a right side of the vehicle;

in response to receiving the indication that an exit is approaching on the right side of the vehicle, determine that the identified exit-only lane is a neighboring right lane when the characteristic lane markings are detected on the right side of the vehicle, determine that the exit-only lane is the presently occupied lane when the characteristic lane markings are detected on the left side of the vehicle; and

in response to receiving the indication that the exit is approaching on the left side of the vehicle, determine that the exit-only lane is a neighboring left lane when the characteristic lane markings are detected on the left side of the vehicle, and determine that the exit-only lane is the presently occupied lane when the characteristic lane markings are detected on the right side of the vehicle.

8. The in-vehicle system of claim 5, wherein the computer code, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to issue a notification to a driver of the vehicle when the presently occupied lane is identified as the exit-only lane.

9. The in-vehicle system of claim 5, further comprising an autonomous driving system, wherein the computer code, when executed on the processor, prompts a driver with an option to assume control of the vehicle from the autonomous driving system.

10. The in-vehicle system of claim 5, further comprising a navigation system, wherein the computer code, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to notify the navigation system when the presently occupied lane is identified as the exit-only lane.