Method and system for estimating a boundary of a road

A boundary estimation system adapted for use on-board a vehicle for estimating a boundary of a road on which the vehicle is positioned, the road comprising at least a first lane marking arranged to form a straight and/or curved intermittent or continuous line on a road surface along the road, the boundary estimation system comprising:

• a monitoring unit adapted for monitoring surroundings of the vehicle;
• a lane marking detecting unit adapted for detecting one or more positions of the at least first lane marking;
• a geometrical representation approximating unit adapted for approximating a geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking based on one or more of the detected positions of the at least first lane marking;
• a road boundary detecting unit adapted for detecting one or more positions of a road boundary of the road;
• an offset approximating unit adapted for approximating a relative lateral offset between the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking and the detected road boundary;
• and
• a fictive boundary defining unit adapted for defining a fictive outer boundary of at least a section of the road, based on laterally shifting at least a section of the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking by the relative lateral offset, so that an approximation is provided of an outer boundary of the at least a section of the road which is represented by a replica of the at least a section of the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking, positioned offset in a lateral direction based on the relative lateral offset, and so that a shape of the at least a section of the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking is utilized to estimate a shape of the outer boundary of the at least a section of the road.

A computer program product comprising a computer program including computer program code stored on a non-transient computer-readable medium and executable by a computer or a processor of a boundary estimation system on-board a vehicle to cause the boundary estimation system to:

• monitor surroundings of the vehicle;
• detect one or more positions of at least a first lane marking of a road on which the vehicle is positioned, wherein the at least first lane marking is arranged to form a straight and/or curved intermittent or continuous line on a road surface along the road;
• approximate a geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking based on one or more of the detected positions of the at least first lane marking;
• detect one or more positions of a road boundary of the road;
• approximate a relative lateral offset between the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking and the detected one or more positions of the road boundary;
• and
• define a fictive outer boundary of at least a section of the road, based on laterally shifting at least a section of the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking by the relative lateral offset, so that an approximation is provided of an outer boundary of the at least a section of the road which is represented by a replica of the at least a section of the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking, positioned offset in a lateral direction based on the relative lateral offset, and so that a shape of the at least a section of the geometrical representation of the at least first lane marking is utilized to estimate a shape of the outer boundary of the at least a section of the road.