Methods and systems for moving traffic obstacle detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10176389-B2
Application number	US-201715464103-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 20, 2017
Priority date	Jun 9, 2016
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

The disclosure provides systems and methods for detecting, characterizing, and predicting moving traffic obstacles. The systems and methods are suitable for densely populated areas in resource-constrained regions. With the characterizations and predictions of moving traffic obstacles, a variety of benefits can accrue to individuals and devices that use traffic information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a processor coupled to a memory, the memory comprising machine-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to carry out operations comprising:
(a) receiving a plurality of data elements, each data element corresponding to a time and a location of an observation and representing an associated obstacle probability assigned based on data from a sensor;
(b) applying a modified Probabilistic Hough Transform to the plurality of data elements to obtain a Hough Transform space, wherein each value in the Hough Transform space is a log likelihood supported or opposed by each observation; and
(c) identifying a potential moving traffic obstacle path by identifying a linear arrangement of locally maximum peak values in the Hough Transform space;

a communications module coupled to the processor and configured to establish a communications link between the processor and a device in a vehicle and further configured to transmit an alert to the device, the alert generated by the processor based on the vehicle position and the alert containing instructions configured to cause the vehicle to maneuver based on the potential moving traffic obstacle path.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a mobile device comprising a sensor and configured to be positioned in the vehicle and communicate with the server.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Tatsubori Michiaki

Classifications

• G08G1/0112 Primary

  from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD] · CPC title

• G06V20/58

  Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads · CPC title

• G06V10/48

  by mapping characteristic values of the pattern into a parameter space, e.g. Hough transformation · CPC title

• G08G1/04

  using optical or ultrasonic detectors · CPC title

• G06K9/00805 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic