Method and apparatus for evaluating a vehicle travel surface

A method for controlling a vehicle including an on-vehicle camera disposed to monitor a field of view (FOV) that includes a travel surface for the vehicle, comprising:

• capturing, via the on-vehicle camera, an image file associated with the FOV;
• segmenting the image file into a first set of regions associated with the travel surface and a second set of regions associated with an above-horizon portion;
• extracting image features on each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions, including extracting a first set of image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions employing a night-time feature extraction routine and extracting a second set of image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions employing a day-time feature extraction routine;
• concatenating the extracted first and second sets of image features to generate a third set of extracted image features;
• classifying the third set of extracted image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions;
• identifying a travel surface condition for the vehicle based upon the classified third set of extracted image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions;
• and
• controlling operation of the vehicle based upon the identified travel surface condition.

A method for monitoring, via a camera in communication with a controller, a field of view (FOV) that includes a travel surface, comprising:

• capturing, via the camera, an image file associated with the FOV;
• communicating the image file to the controller;
• segmenting, via the controller, the image file into a first set of regions associated with the travel surface and a second set of regions associated with an above-horizon portion;
• extracting image features on each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions, including extracting a first set of image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions employing a night-time feature extraction routine and extracting a second set of image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions employing a day-time feature extraction routine;
• concatenating the extracted first and second sets of image features to generate a third set of extracted image features;
• classifying the third set of extracted image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions;
• identifying a surface condition for the travel surface based upon the classified third set of extracted image features from each of the first set of regions and the second set of regions, wherein the surface condition includes one of a dry state, a wet state, an iced state and a snow-covered state;
• and
• communicating, via the controller, the identified surface condition for the travel surface to an infrastructure monitoring device.