Lane monitoring with electronic horizon

摘要

Apparatus for a vehicle operated on a roadway having lane markers includes an optical sensor providing optical data of the roadway. A first lane model is stored in an electronic memory in response to detected lane markers in the optical data. An electronic horizon system tracks a position of the vehicle and provides roadway data in response to the position. A second lane model is stored in the electronic memory in response to the roadway data. A confidence checker compares a discrepancy between the first and second lane models to a threshold in order to determine a confidence level. An output selector selects the first lane model when lane markers are detected in the optical data, and selects the second lane model if the lane markers are not detected in the optical data and the confidence level is greater than a predetermined level.

主权项

1. Apparatus for a vehicle operated on a roadway having lane markers, comprising:
an optical sensor providing optical data of the roadway; a first lane model stored in an electronic memory in response to detected lane markers in the optical data; an electronic horizon system tracking a position of the vehicle and providing roadway data in response to the position, wherein the electronic horizon system includes a map database representing the roadway as a plurality of segments along a pathline; a second lane model stored in the electronic memory in response to the roadway data; a confidence checker comparing a discrepancy between the first and second lane models to a threshold in order to determine a confidence level; and an output selector that selects the first lane model when lane markers are detected in the optical data, and that selects the second lane model if the lane markers are not detected in the optical data and the confidence level is greater than a predetermined level; wherein the confidence checker a) determines a point on the pathline closest to the vehicle, b) determines a pathline heading in response to a direction of the pathline at the closest point, c) determines a lateral offset distance between the vehicle and the closest point, d) determines a virtual offset distance by shifting the pathline according to a difference between the lateral offset distance of the pathline and a lane marker offset distance from the first lane model, and e) determines the discrepancy in response to a difference between the lateral offset distance and the lane marker offset for a plurality of time samples.