Vehicle navigation system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11519735-B2
Application number	US-202017081889-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 27, 2020
Priority date	Dec 13, 2017
Publication date	Dec 6, 2022
Grant date	Dec 6, 2022

Abstract

A vehicle navigation system includes a camera and a controller. The camera is configured to render an image of a host-vehicle in a field-of-view of the camera. The camera located remote from the host-vehicle. The controller is installed on the host-vehicle. The controller is configured to receive the image and determine a vehicle-coordinate of the host-vehicle in accordance with a position of the host-vehicle in the image. The camera may be configured to superimpose gridlines on the image, and the controller may be configured to determine the position in accordance with the gridlines.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a traffic camera comprising a field-of-view of a roadway, the traffic camera being configured to:
render an image of a host vehicle in response to the host vehicle appearing on the roadway in the field-of-view;
modify the image to indicate to a controller of the host vehicle a position of the host vehicle on the roadway; and
cause the controller to determine a vehicle coordinate of the host vehicle based on the position of the host vehicle indicated by the image by transmitting, via a wide area network, the modified image to the controller.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the traffic camera is configured to modify the image by superimposing gridlines on the image, the gridlines indicating to the controller the position of the host vehicle on the roadway.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the traffic camera comprises an image processor configured to determine the position of the host vehicle in the image.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the image processor is configured to determine a particular traffic lane from a plurality of lanes of the roadway as being occupied by the host vehicle, and modify the image to indicate the position of the host vehicle by indicating the particular traffic lane.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the image processor is configured to indicate the particular traffic lane by superimposing gridlines on the image that indicate the position of the host vehicle.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the traffic camera is configured to identify the host vehicle that is rendered in the image based on a light signal received from a beacon installed on the host vehicle.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the light signal comprises infrared light.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the light signal is modulated to indicate an identification number that is unique to the host vehicle.

9. The system of claim 3 , wherein the traffic camera is configured to identify the host vehicle that is rendered in the image based on an attribute of the host vehicle that is identifiable from the image.

10. A method comprising:
rendering, by a traffic camera comprising a field-of-view of a roadway, an image of a host vehicle in response to the host vehicle appearing on the roadway in the field-of-view;
modifying the image to indicate to a controller of the host vehicle a position of the host vehicle on the roadway; and
causing the controller to determine a vehicle coordinate of the host vehicle based on the position of the host vehicle indicated by the image by transmitting, via a wide area network, the modified image to the controller.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein modifying the image comprises superimposing gridlines on the image, the gridlines indicating to the controller the position of the host vehicle on the roadway.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the traffic camera comprises an image processor, wherein determining the position of the host vehicle in the image comprises determining the position using the image processor.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining, by the image processor, a particular traffic lane from a plurality of lanes of the roadway as being occupied by the host vehicle,
wherein modifying the image to indicate the position of the host vehicle comprises modifying the image by indicating the particular traffic lane.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein modifying the image to indicate the position of the host vehicle in the image comprises superimposing gridlines on the image that indicate the position of the host vehicle.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving, by the traffic camera and from a beacon installed on the host vehicle, a light signal; and
identifying, by the traffic camera, the host vehicle based on the light signal.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the light signal comprises infrared light.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the light signal is a modulated signal to indicate an identification number that is unique to the host vehicle.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
identifying, by the traffic camera, based on an attribute of the host vehicle that is identifiable from the image, the host vehicle.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, configure a processor of a traffic camera that comprises a field-of-view of a roadway to:
render an image of a host vehicle in response to the host vehicle appearing on the roadway in the field-of-view;
modify the image to indicate to a controller of the host vehicle a position of the host vehicle on the roadway; and
cause the controller to determine a vehicle coordinate of the host vehicle based on the position of the host vehicle indicated by the image by transmitting, via a wide area network, the modified image to the controller.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions, when executed, configure the processor of the traffic camera to modify the image by superimposing gridlines on the image, the gridlines indicating to the controller the position of the host vehicle on the roadway.

Assignees

• Aptiv Tech Ltd

Inventors

• Agarwal Divya
• Nagaraja Keerthi Raj
• Laur Michael H
• Hilnbrand Brian R

Classifications

• G08G1/0116

  from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons · CPC title

• G08G1/0175

  by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules · CPC title

• G08G1/096783

  where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element · CPC title

• G01C21/3602

  Input other than that of destination using image analysis, e.g. detection of road signs, lanes, buildings, real preceding vehicles using a camera · CPC title

• G01C21/26 Primary

  specially adapted for navigation in a road network · CPC title