Augmented reality assisted traffic infrastructure visualization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11623653-B2
Application number	US-202016750210-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 23, 2020
Priority date	Jan 23, 2020
Publication date	Apr 11, 2023
Grant date	Apr 11, 2023

Abstract

A method includes receiving a service request from a vehicle within a geographic area, receiving a first set of data from the vehicle comprising a position of the vehicle within the geographic area, a direction that the vehicle is facing, and a field of view for an augmented reality display associated with the vehicle, obtaining historical traffic data associated with the geographic area, identifying one or more traffic infrastructures within the field of view of the augmented reality display based on a map associated with the geographic area, the historical traffic data, the position of the vehicle, and the direction the vehicle is facing, generating an augmented reality image for the one or more traffic infrastructures based on the historical traffic data and the field of view of the augmented reality display, and sending the augmented reality image to the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a service request from a vehicle within a geographic area;
receiving a first set of data from the vehicle comprising a position of the vehicle within the geographic area, a direction that the vehicle is facing, and a field of view for an augmented reality display associated with the vehicle;
obtaining historical traffic data associated with the geographic area, the historical traffic data comprising data about construction, road closures, or traffic accidents;
identifying one or more traffic infrastructures within the field of view of the augmented reality display based on a map associated with the geographic area, the historical traffic data, the position of the vehicle, and the direction the vehicle is facing;
generating an augmented reality image for the one or more traffic infrastructures based on the historical traffic data, state information associated with the one or more traffic infrastructures, and the field of view of the augmented reality display; and
sending the augmented reality image to the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether a locally stored map of the geographic area is up to date; and
in response to determining that the locally stored map of the geographic area is not up to date, requesting an updated map of the geographic area.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the augmented reality display comprises a heads up display for the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the augmented reality display comprises an augmented reality headset.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more traffic infrastructures comprise one or more lane lines.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more traffic infrastructures comprise one or more traffic signs.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the historical traffic data comprises a construction plan.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the historical traffic data comprises one or more road closures.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the historical traffic data comprises traffic accident information.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more traffic infrastructures comprise one or more temporary traffic infrastructures.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more traffic infrastructures comprise one or more dynamically changeable signs.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the vehicle is leaving a first service coverage area;
determining whether the vehicle is entering a second service coverage area; and
in response to determining that the vehicle is entering the second service coverage area, transferring the service request to a computing device associated with the second service coverage area.

13. An edge server comprising:
a controller programmed to:
receive a service request from a vehicle within a geographic area serviced by the edge server;
receive a first set of data from the vehicle comprising a position of the vehicle within the geographic area, a direction that the vehicle is facing, and a field of view for an augmented reality display associated with the vehicle;
obtain historical traffic data associated with the geographic area, the historical traffic data comprising data about construction, road closures, or traffic accidents;
identify one or more traffic infrastructures within the field of view of the augmented reality display based on a map associated with the geographic area, the historical traffic data, the position of the vehicle, and the direction the vehicle is facing;
generate an augmented reality image for the one or more traffic infrastructures based on the historical traffic data, state information associated with the one or more traffic infrastructures, and the field of view of the augmented reality display; and
send the augmented reality image to the vehicle.

14. The edge server of claim 13 , wherein the controller is programmed to:
determine whether a map of the geographic area stored on the edge server is up to date; and
in response to determining that the map of the geographic area stored on e edge server is not up to date, request an up to date map of the geographic area.

15. The edge server of claim 13 , wherein the controller is programmed to:
determine when the vehicle is leaving the geographic area serviced by the edge server;
determine whether the vehicle is entering a second geographic area serviced by a second edge server; and
in response to determining that the vehicle is entering the second geographic area, transferring the service request to the second edge server.

16. A system comprising:
an edge server;
a map server; and
a historical traffic data server,
wherein the edge server is configured to:
receive a service request from a vehicle within a geographic area serviced by the edge server;
determine whether a map of the geographic area stored on the edge server is up to date;
in response to determining that the map of the geographic area stored on the edge server is not up to date, request an up to date map of the geographic area from the map server;
receive a first set of data from the vehicle comprising a position of the vehicle within the geographic area, a direction that the vehicle is facing, and a field of view for an augmented reality display associated with the vehicle;
receive historical traffic data associated with the geographic area from the historical traffic data server, the historical traffic data comprising data about construction, road closures, or traffic accidents;
identify one or more traffic infrastructures within the field of view of the augmented reality display based on the map, the historical traffic data, the position of the vehicle, and the direction the vehicle is facing;
generate an augmented reality image for the one or more traffic infrastructures based on the historical traffic data, state information associated with the one or more traffic infrastructures, and the field of view of the augmented reality display; and
send the augmented reality image to the vehicle.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the edge server is configured to:
determine when the vehicle is leaving the geographic area serviced by the edge server;
determine whether the vehicle is entering a second geographic area serviced by a second edge server; and
in response to determining that the vehicle is entering the second geographic area, transferring the service request to the second edge server.

Assignees

• Toyota Eng & Mfg North America

Inventors

• Liu Yin-Chen
• Kim Baekgyu

Classifications

• G06V20/20

  in augmented reality scenes · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• G01C21/365

  Guidance using head up displays or projectors, e.g. virtual vehicles or arrows projected on the windscreen or on the road itself · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

  of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data · CPC title

• G06V10/95

  structured as a network, e.g. client-server architectures · CPC title