Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for verifying traffic designations of roads

• US 8,825,359 B1
• Filed: 02/27/2013
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Wolf, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US13/779,712
• Time in Patent Office: 552 Days
• Field of Search: 701/119, 701/117, 701/118, 340/907, 340/909, 340/910, 340/995.1
• US Class Current: 701/119
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation

Abstract

Provided are systems, methods, and computer-readable for verifying the traffic designations of roads of a geographic map. Location data for a geographic area is obtained and location data points are filtered based on speed. A road network for the geographic area is obtained, and location data points are associated with a road based on proximity and heading with respect to the orientation of the road. The associated location data points in each direction are counted and used to determine a traffic direction. The traffic direction is compared to the existing traffic designation for the road, and conflicts are identified, such as missing one-way designations, unlikely one-way designations, and incorrect one-way designations.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for verifying a traffic designation of a road, the method comprising:

obtaining, by one or more processors, location data in a geographic area, the location data including a plurality of points each having a heading and a speed;

associating, by one or more processors, a first group of the plurality of points with a selected road in the geographic area, the selected road having a traffic designation;

counting, by one or more processors, a first number of the first group of points having a heading in a first direction;

counting, by one or more processors, a second number of the first group of points having a heading in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction;

determining a traffic direction of the road based on the first number and the second number; and

determining, by one or more processors, whether a conflict exists between the determined traffic direction and the traffic designation of the road.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the traffic direction comprises one-way traffic in the first direction, one-way traffic in the second direction, or two-way traffic.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that the traffic direction is in the first direction and the traffic designation designates the second direction.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that that the traffic direction comprises two-way traffic.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that the traffic direction is in the first direction and the traffic designation designates two-way traffic.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising obtaining a road network comprising the selected road from a geographic information system (GIS).

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, comprising removing one-way designations from one or more roads of the road network.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the association between a first group of the plurality of points with a selected road in the geographic area is a function of the proximity of each of the first group of points to the selected road and the heading of the first group of points to with respect to the orientation of the selected road.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising filtering the plurality of points based on the respective speed of each of the plurality of points.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising identifying the selected road for review by an operator associated with the GIS.

11. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium having executable computer code stored thereon for verifying a traffic designation of a road, the computer code comprising a set of instructions that causes one or more processors to perform the following:

obtaining, by one or more processors, location data in a geographic area, the location data including a plurality of points each having a heading and a speed;

associating, by one or more processors, a first group of the plurality of points with a selected road in the geographic area, the selected road having a traffic designation;

counting, by one or more processors, a first number of the first group of points having a heading in a first direction;

counting, by one or more processors, a second number of the first group of points having a heading in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction;

determining a traffic direction of the road based on the first number and the second number; and

determining, by one or more processors, whether a conflict exists between the determined traffic direction and the traffic designation of the road.

12. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that the traffic direction is in the first direction and the traffic designation designates the second direction.

13. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that that the traffic direction comprises two-way traffic.

14. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that the traffic direction is in the first direction and the traffic designation designates two-way traffic.

15. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, comprising identifying the selected road for review by an operator associated with the GIS.

16. A system for verifying a traffic designation of a road, the system comprising

one or more processors;

a non-transitory tangible memory accessible by the one or more processors and having executable computer code stored thereon, the computer code comprising a set of instructions that causes one or more processors to perform the following;

obtaining, by one or more processors, location data in a geographic area, the location data including a plurality of points each having a heading and a speed;

associating, by one or more processors, a first group of the plurality of points with a selected road in the geographic area, the selected road having a traffic designation;

counting, by one or more processors, a first number of the first group of points having a heading in a first direction;

counting, by one or more processors, a second number of the first group of points having a heading in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction;

determining a traffic direction of the road based on the first number and the second number; and

determining, by one or more processors, whether a conflict exists between the determined traffic direction and the traffic designation of the road.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that the traffic direction is in the first direction and the traffic designation designates the second direction.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that that the traffic direction comprises two-way traffic.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein determining whether a conflict exists between the traffic designation of the road and the traffic direction comprises determining that the traffic direction is in the first direction and the traffic designation designates two-way traffic.

20. The system of claim 16, comprising identifying the selected road for review by an operator associated with the GIS.