Modifying map elements associated with map data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11761791-B2
Application number	US-202017027297-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2020
Priority date	Sep 28, 2018
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

Techniques are discussed for modifying map elements associated with map data. Map data can include three-dimensional data (e.g., LIDAR data) representing an environment, while map elements can be associated with the map data to identify locations and semantic information associated with an environment, such as regions that correspond to driving lanes or crosswalks. A trajectory associated with the map data can be updated, such as when aligning one or more trajectories in response to a loop closure, updated calibration, etc. The transformation between a trajectory and an updated trajectory can be applied to map elements to warp the map elements so that they correspond to the updated map data, thereby providing automatic and accurate techniques for updating map elements associated with map data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
determining an alignment between first sensor data associated with a first trajectory and second sensor data associated with a second trajectory;
determining, based on the alignment, an updated first trajectory different from the first trajectory and the second trajectory;
determining a transformation associated with the first trajectory and the updated first trajectory;
determining, based at least in part on a map element associated with the first trajectory and the transformation associated with the first trajectory and the updated first trajectory, a modified map element;
updating, as an updated map, a map to comprise the modified map element; and
transmitting the updated map to an autonomous vehicle configured to be maneuvered based at least in part on the updated map.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor data comprises first LIDAR data and the second sensor data comprises second LIDAR data.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the map element comprises an area in an environment associated with map data, and wherein updating the map comprises updating at least one of a size or location of the map element as the modified map element.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the map element comprises at least one of:
a lane element;
a bike lane element;
a crosswalk element;
an intersection element;
a lane divider element;
a traffic light element;
a stop sign element;
a stop line element;
a yield sign element; or
a yield line element.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the transformation comprises:
determining a trajectory point associated with the map element; and
determining, as the transformation, one or more of a relative position or orientation of the trajectory point with respect to a corresponding trajectory point of the updated first trajectory.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein determining the trajectory point comprises:
determining a distance between the map element and the trajectory point associated with the first trajectory; and
determining that the distance is below a threshold distance.

7. A method comprising:
determining an alignment between first sensor data associated with a first trajectory and second sensor data associated with a second trajectory;
determining, based on the alignment, an updated first trajectory different form the first trajectory and the second trajectory;
determining a transformation associated with the first trajectory and the updated first trajectory;
determining, based at least in part on a map element associated with the first trajectory and the transformation associated with the first trajectory and the updated first trajectory, a modified map element;
updating, as an updated map, a map to comprise the modified map element; and
transmitting the updated map to an autonomous vehicle configured to be maneuvered based at least in part on the updated map.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first sensor data comprises first LIDAR data and the second sensor data comprises second LIDAR data.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the map element comprises an area in an environment associated with map data, and wherein updating the map comprises updating at least one of a size or location of the map element as the modified map element.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the map element comprises at least one of:
a lane element;
a bike lane element;
a crosswalk element;
an intersection element;
a lane divider element;
a traffic light element;
a stop sign element;
a stop line element;
a yield sign element; or
a yield line element.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the transformation comprises:
determining a trajectory point associated with the map element; and
determining, as the transformation, one or more of a relative position or orientation of the trajectory point with respect to a corresponding trajectory point of the updated first trajectory.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the trajectory point comprises:
determining a distance between the map element and the trajectory point associated with the first trajectory; and
determining that the distance is below a threshold distance.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the modified map element is further based at least in part on:
one or more additional trajectory points associated with the first trajectory; or
one or more additional map elements.

14. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
outputting the modified map element to a fleet of vehicles.

15. The method of claim 7 , wherein the map element is one of a plurality of map elements, and wherein the modified map element is one of a plurality of modified map elements, the method further comprising:
performing a least squares optimization to determine, based at least in part on the plurality of map elements and the transformation, the plurality of modified map elements.

16. A one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
determining an alignment between first sensor data associated with a first trajectory and second sensor data associated with a second trajectory;
determining, based on the alignment, an updated first trajectory different form the first trajectory and the second trajectory;
determining a transformation associated with the first trajectory and the updated first trajectory associated with the first trajectory and the updated first trajectory;
determining, based at least in part on a map element associated with the first trajectory and the transformation, a modified map element;
updating, as an updated map, a map to comprise the modified map element; and
transmitting the updated map to an autonomous vehicle configured to be maneuvered based at least in part on the updated map.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the map element comprises a geometric primitive in an environment associated with map data, and wherein updating the map comprises updating at least one or a size or location of the map element as the modified map element.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein determining the transformation comprises:
determining a trajectory point of the first trajectory associated with the map element; and
determining one or more of a relative position or orientation between the trajectory point of the first trajectory and a corresponding point on the updated first trajectory.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein determining the trajectory point comprises determining that the trajectory point is a closest trajectory point to the map element.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein determining the modified map element is further based at least in part on:
one or more additional trajectory points associated with the first trajectory; or
one or more additional map elements.

Assignees

• Zoox Inc

Inventors

• Adams Derek
• Blaes Patrick
• Ecins Aleksandrs
• Levinson Jesse Sol
• Miller Daniel

Classifications

• G01C21/3804

  Creation or updating of map data · CPC title

• G05D2111/10

  Optical signals · CPC title

• G05D1/246

  using environment maps, e.g. simultaneous localisation and mapping [SLAM] · CPC title

• G01C21/3811 Primary

  Point data, e.g. Point of Interest [POI] · CPC title

• G01C21/3859 Primary

  Differential updating map data · CPC title