Autonomous vehicle tail alignment navigation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9690293-B2
Application number	US-201615273044-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 22, 2016
Priority date	Feb 10, 2015
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A system for navigating an autonomous vehicle along a road segment is disclosed. The system may have at least one processor. The processor may be programmed to receive from an image capture device, images representative of an environment of the autonomous vehicle. The processor may also be programmed to determine a travelled trajectory along the road segment based on analysis of the images. Further, the processor may be programmed to determine a current location of the autonomous vehicle along a predetermined road model trajectory based on analysis of one or more of the plurality of images. The processor may also be programmed to determine a heading direction based on the determined traveled trajectory. In addition, the processor may be programmed to determine a steering direction, relative to the heading direction, by comparing the traveled trajectory to the predetermined road model trajectory at the current location of the autonomous vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for autonomously navigating an autonomous vehicle along a road segment, the system comprising:
at least one processor programmed to:
receive from an image capture device, a plurality of images representative of an environment of the autonomous vehicle;
determine a traveled trajectory of the autonomous vehicle along the road segment based, at least in part, on analysis of one or more of the plurality of images;
determine a current location of the autonomous vehicle along a predetermined road model trajectory based on analysis of one or more of the plurality of images;
determine a heading direction for the autonomous vehicle based on the determined traveled trajectory; and
determine a steering direction for the autonomous vehicle, relative to the heading direction, by comparing the traveled trajectory to the predetermined road model trajectory at the current location of the autonomous vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the comparison between the traveled trajectory and the predetermined road model trajectory includes determination of a transformation that reduces an error between the traveled trajectory and the predetermined road model trajectory.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further programmed to adjust the steering system of the autonomous vehicle based on the transformation.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined road model trajectory includes a three-dimensional polynomial representation of a target trajectory along the road segment.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined road model trajectory is retrieved from a database stored in a memory included in the autonomous vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined road model trajectory is retrieved from a database accessible to the autonomous vehicle over a wireless communications interface.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image capture device is included in the autonomous vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein determination of the steering direction is further based on one or more additional cues, including one or more of a left lane mark polynomial model, a right lane mark polynomial model, holistic path prediction, motion of a forward vehicle, determined free space ahead of the autonomous vehicle, and virtual lanes or virtual lane constraints determined based on positions of vehicles forward of the autonomous vehicle.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein determination of the steering direction is based on weights applied to the one or more additional cues.

10. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a body;
at least one image capture device configured to acquire at least one image representative of an environment of the autonomous vehicle; and
at least one processor programmed to:
receive from the image capture device, a plurality of images representative of the environment of the autonomous vehicle;
determine a traveled trajectory of the autonomous vehicle along the road segment based, at least in part, on analysis of one or more of the plurality of images;
determine a current location of the autonomous vehicle along a predetermined road model trajectory based on analysis of one or more of the plurality of images;
determine a heading direction for the autonomous vehicle based on the determined traveled trajectory; and
determine a steering direction for the autonomous vehicle, relative to the heading direction, by comparing the traveled trajectory to the predetermined road model trajectory at the current location of the autonomous vehicle.

11. The autonomous vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the comparison between the traveled trajectory and the predetermined road model trajectory includes determination of a transformation that reduces an error between the traveled trajectory and the predetermined road model trajectory.

12. The autonomous vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined road model trajectory includes a three-dimensional polynomial representation of a target trajectory along the road segment.

13. The autonomous vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined road model trajectory is retrieved from one of a database stored in a memory included in the autonomous vehicle and a database accessible to the autonomous vehicle over a wireless communications interface.

14. The autonomous vehicle of claim 10 , wherein determination of the steering direction is further based on one or more additional cues, including one or more of a left lane mark polynomial model, a right lane mark polynomial model, holistic path prediction, motion of a forward vehicle, determined free space ahead of the autonomous vehicle, and virtual lanes or virtual lane constraints determined based on positions of vehicles forward of the autonomous vehicle.

15. The autonomous vehicle of claim 14 , wherein determination of the steering direction is based on weights applied to the one or more additional cues.

16. A method of navigating an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
receiving, from an image capture device, a plurality of images representative of an environment of the autonomous vehicle;
determining a traveled trajectory of the autonomous vehicle along the road segment based, at least in part, on analysis of one or more of the plurality of images;
determining a current location of the autonomous vehicle along a predetermined road model trajectory based on analysis of one or more of the plurality of images;
determining a heading direction for the autonomous vehicle based on the determined traveled trajectory; and
determining a steering direction for the autonomous vehicle, relative to the heading direction, by comparing the traveled trajectory to the predetermined road model trajectory at the current location of the autonomous vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein comparing the traveled trajectory to the predetermined road model trajectory includes determining a transformation that reduces an error between the traveled trajectory and the predetermined road model trajectory.

18. The method of claim 17 , further including adjusting the steering system of the autonomous vehicle based on the transformation.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein determining the steering direction includes applying weights to the one or more additional cues.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining a steering direction is based on one or more additional cues, including one or more of a left lane mark polynomial model, a right lane mark polynomial model, holistic path prediction, motion of a forward vehicle, determined free space ahead of the autonomous vehicle, and virtual lanes or virtual lane constraints determined based on positions of vehicles forward of the autonomous vehicle.

Assignees

• Mobileye Vision Technologies Ltd

Inventors

• Shashua Amnon
• Reisman Aran
• Braunstein Daniel
• Taieb Yoav
• Tubis Igor

Classifications

• G01C21/32

  Structuring or formatting of map data · CPC title

• G01C21/30 Primary

  Map- or contour-matching · CPC title

• B60W2555/60

  Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way · CPC title

• G01C21/34

  Route searching; Route guidance · CPC title

• G08G1/167

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