Traveling lane determining device and traveling lane determining method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018165525-A1
Application number	US-201515577687-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 15, 2015
Priority date	Jun 15, 2015
Publication date	Jun 14, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

In the present invention, a traveling lane on which a vehicle is traveling is estimated by a traveling lane estimator based on map information, current position information of the vehicle, and white line information on a white line that divides a road on which the vehicle travels. The traveling lane estimator estimates the traveling lane based on a traveling lane probability of each of lanes, which is obtained based on a line type of the white line, a traveling lane probability of each of the lanes, which is obtained based on whether or not a lane adjacent to the traveling lane is present, and a traveling lane probability of each of the lanes, which is obtained based on a lane on which the vehicle traveled when the traveling lane was estimated previously.

First claim

1 - 10 . (canceled)

11 . A traveling lane determining device that determines a traveling lane as a lane on which a vehicle is traveling among lanes which constitute a road, the traveling lane determining device comprising:
a processor to execute a program; and a memory to store the program which, when executed by the processor, performs processes of: storing map information on a map including said road; acquiring current position information on a current position of said vehicle; acquiring white line information on a white line that divides said road; storing said white line information; estimating said traveling lane on which said vehicle is traveling based on said map information, said current position information and said white line information; monitoring said traveling lane estimated; and deciding said traveling lane based on a result of said estimating and a result of said monitoring, wherein in said estimating, a total probability that said vehicle is traveling each of said lanes is calculated based on a probability that each of said lanes, which constitutes said road, is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on a line type of said white line, a probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on whether or not a lane adjacent to said current position of said vehicle is present, and a probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on a lane on which said vehicle traveled when said traveling lane was previously estimated, and one of said lanes whose total probability is largest is estimated as said traveling lane.

12 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 11 , wherein, when number-of-lanes information that indicates the number of said lanes cannot be acquired from said map information, said processor estimates the number of said lanes based on the probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on whether or not the lane adjacent to said current position of said vehicle is present, and the number of times that said vehicle changed the lane on which said vehicle traveled which is determined based on the number of times that said vehicle crosses said white line, and estimates said traveling lane based on the estimated number of said lanes.

13 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 11 , wherein, when said white line information, which is same, is continuously acquired, said processor estimates said traveling lane based on the probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on whether or not the lane adjacent to said current position of said vehicle is present, and the probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on the lane on which said vehicle traveled when said traveling lane was previously estimated.

14 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 11 , wherein, when a probability that a lane different from the lane estimated as said traveling lane is said traveling lane exceeds a predetermined threshold value after estimating said traveling lane, said processor updates said traveling lane to said different lane.

15 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 11 , wherein, when it is determined that said white line has been crossed from a temporal change of said white line information, said processor newly estimates said traveling lane.

16 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 11 , wherein, based on a lane width of each of said lanes predicted from said white line information, said line type of said white line of said lane, and information on vehicles surrounding said vehicle, said processor predicts whether or not said adjacent lane is present, and based on a result of the prediction, obtains a probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on whether or not the lane adjacent to said current position of said vehicle is present.

17 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 11 , wherein, when the number of times that said vehicle changed the lane on which said vehicle traveled, the number being obtained from said white line information, is larger than the number of said lanes, the number being obtained from said map information, said processor determines that said map information is wrong, and estimates said traveling lane.

18 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 11 , wherein said processor further performs processes of:
specifying a movement amount of said vehicle; and map matching for specifying, based on traveling lane information indicating said traveling lane decided, and based on movement amount information indicating said movement amount specified, a position of said vehicle on said map that is based on said map information.

19 . The traveling lane determining device according to claim 18 , wherein said processor further performs processes of:
acquiring road shape information on a shape of said road; and acquiring feature information on a feature installed on said road, wherein said map matching includes correcting an error of a position of said vehicle with respect to a traveling direction of said vehicle based on a correlation between the shape of said road, the shape being based on said road shape information, and a shape of said road, the shape being based on said map information, and based on a relationship between a position of said feature, the position being based on said feature information, and a position of said feature, the position being based on said map information.

20 . A traveling lane determining method for determining a traveling lane as a lane on which a vehicle is traveling among lanes which constitute a road, the traveling lane determining method comprising:
acquiring current position information on a current position of said vehicle; acquiring white line information on a white line that divides said road; estimating the traveling lane on which said vehicle is traveling based on map information on a map including said road, said current position information and said white line information; monitoring said estimated traveling lane; and deciding said traveling lane based on a result of said estimating and a result of said monitoring, wherein, at a time of estimating said traveling lane, a total probability that said vehicle is traveling each of said lanes is calculated based on a probability that each of lanes, which constitutes said road, is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on a line type of said white line, a probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on whether or not a lane adjacent to said current position of said vehicle is present, and a probability that each of said lanes is said traveling lane, the probability being obtained based on a lane on which said vehicle traveled when said traveling lane was previously estimated, and one of said lanes whose total probability is largest is estimated as said traveling lane.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Hamada Yuji
• Ikawa Masahiko
• Fujii Masatoshi
• Nishiuma Norihiro

Classifications

• G08G1/167 Primary

  Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection · CPC title

• G06K9/00798 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G01C21/30

  Map- or contour-matching · CPC title

• G06V20/588 Primary

  Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road · CPC title