Vehicle location detecting system
First Claim
1. A vehicle location detecting method for detecting the location of a vehicle within a predetermined area, comprising the steps of:
- a. outputting distance data at every predetermined interval, the distance data being representative of the distance that a vehicle has travelled,b. outputting heading angle data at every predetermined interval, the heading angle data being representative of the heading angle change of vehicle travel,c. storing road map data representative of roadways,d. computing a present location data from said distance data and said heading angle data, and a limit error of said present location data which is determined by errors in said distance data, in said heading angle data and in said road map data, and registering locations on the roadways, which roadways are located within said limit error of said present location data, as estimate locations,e. computing correlation coefficients corresponding to said registered estimate locations, andf. selecting a correlation coefficient whose error is smallest with respect to the roadway from said computed correlation coefficients and outputting the registered estimate location corresponding to said selected correlation coefficient as a present location.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle location detecting method for detecting the location of a vehicle within a predetermined area, comprising the steps of: outputting distance data at every predetermined interval, the distance data being representative of the distance that a vehicle has traveled, outputting heading angle data at every predetermined interval, the heading angle data being representative of the heading angle change of vehicle travel, storing road map data representative of roadways, computing a present location data from the distance data and the heading angle data, and a limit error of the present location data which is determined by errors in the distance data, in the heading angle data and in the road map data, and registering locations on the roadways, which roadways are located within the limit error of the present location data, as estimate locations, computing correlation coefficients corresponding to the registered estimate locations, and selecting a correlation coefficient whose error is smallest with respect to the roadway from the computed correlation coefficients and outputting the registered estimate location corresponding to the selected correlation coefficient as a present location.
61 Citations
33 Claims
-
1. A vehicle location detecting method for detecting the location of a vehicle within a predetermined area, comprising the steps of:
-
a. outputting distance data at every predetermined interval, the distance data being representative of the distance that a vehicle has travelled, b. outputting heading angle data at every predetermined interval, the heading angle data being representative of the heading angle change of vehicle travel, c. storing road map data representative of roadways, d. computing a present location data from said distance data and said heading angle data, and a limit error of said present location data which is determined by errors in said distance data, in said heading angle data and in said road map data, and registering locations on the roadways, which roadways are located within said limit error of said present location data, as estimate locations, e. computing correlation coefficients corresponding to said registered estimate locations, and f. selecting a correlation coefficient whose error is smallest with respect to the roadway from said computed correlation coefficients and outputting the registered estimate location corresponding to said selected correlation coefficient as a present location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A vehicle location detecting method for detecting the location of a vehicle within a predetermined area, comprising the steps of:
-
a. outputting distance data at every predetermined interval, the distance data being representative of the distance that a vehicle has travelled, b. outputting heading angle data at every predetermined interval, the heading angle data being representative of the heading angle change of vehicle travel, c. storing road map data representative of roadways, d. computing a present location data from said distance data and said heading angle data, a first limit error of said present location data which is determined by errors in said distance data, in said heading angle data and in said road map data, and a wider limit error of said present location data which is wider than said first limit error, and registering locations on the roadways, which roadways are located within said first limit error of said present location data, as estimate locations, e. computing correlation coefficients corresponding to said registered estimate locations, f. selecting a correlation coefficient whose error is smallest with respect to the roadway from said computed correlation coefficients and outputting the registered estimate location corresponding to said selected correlation coefficient as a present location, and g. if the roadways, which are located within said first limit error of said present location data, do not exist, outputting said present location data computed from said distance data and said heading angle data as a present location, registering locations on the roadways, which roadways are located within said wider limit error of said present location data, as estimate locations, and when a correlation coefficient, whose error is less than a predetermined value and smallest with respect to each roadway of the registered estimate locations, is obtained, outputting the estimate location corresponding to the correlation coefficient as a present location. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A vehicle location detecting apparatus for detecting the location of a vehicle within a predetermined area, comprising
a distance detecting part for outputting distance data representative of the distance that a vehicle has travelled, a heading detecting part for outputting heading angle data representative of the heading angle change of vehicle travel, a road map memory for storing therein road map data of a predetermined area, the road map data being representative of roadways, an estimate location computing part for computing a present location data from said distance data and said heading angle data, and a limit error of said present location data which is determined by errors in said distance data, in said heading angle data and in said road map data, and for registering locations on the roadways, which roadways are located within said limit error of said present location data, as estimate locations, a correlation coefficient computing part for computing correlation coefficients corresponding to said estimate locations, and a correlation coefficient evaluating part for evaluating large and small relation between said correlation coefficients computed by said correlation coefficient computing part and for storing as an actual location the estimation location corresponding to the correlation coefficient which is largest among said correlation coefficients computed by said correlation coefficient computing part.
-
32. A vehicle location detecting apparatus for detecting the location of a vehicle within a predetermined area, comprising
a distance detecting part for outputting distance data representative of the distance that a vehicle has travelled, a heading detecting part for outputting heading angle data representative of the heading angle change of vehicle travel, a road map memory for storing therein road map data of a predetermined area, the road map data being representative of roadways, an estimate location computing part for computing a present location data from said distance data and said heading angle data, a first limit error of said present location data which is determined by errors in said distance data, in said heading angle data and in said road map data, and a second limit error which is wider than said first limit error, and for registering locations on the roadways, which roadways are located within said limit error of said present location data, as estimate locations, a correlation coefficient computing part for computing correlation coefficients corresponding to said estimate locations, and a correlation coefficient evaluating part for detecting existence and nonexistence of correlation coefficients which are larger than a predetermined threshold value among said computed correlation coefficients and for evaluating large and small relation between said correlation coefficients computed by said correlation coefficient computing part and for storing as an actual location the estimation location corresponding to the correlation coefficient which is largest among said correlation coefficients computed by said correlation coefficient computing part, the first limit error being adopted to register estimate locations when said existence of correlation coefficients which are larger than a predetermined threshold value is detected in said correlation coefficient evaluating part, the second limit error being adopted to register estimate locations when said nonexistence of correlation coefficients which are larger than a predetermined threshold value is detected in said correlation coefficient evaluating part.
Specification