System and method for determining autonomous vehicle location using incremental image analysis

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
• identifying, at a central location, an expected position of an autonomous vehicle which is moving;
• and
• identifying an actual position of the autonomous vehicle, by:
• transmitting, from the central location to the autonomous vehicle, a request for on-board location information, the on-board location information comprising:
• surrounding images comprising surroundings of the autonomous vehicle;
• and
• peer GPS (Global Positioning System) data for proximate peers;
• receiving, at the central location from the autonomous vehicle and in response to the request, the surrounding images;
• receiving, at the central location from the autonomous vehicle and in response to the request, the peer GPS data;
• determining, based on the peer GPS data in the on-board location information, that the actual position of the autonomous vehicle is outside a threshold range of the expected position, to yield a determination;
• initiating, based on the determination, an iterative image comparison, wherein each iteration of the iterative image comparison:
• extends a geographic radius extending from the expected position;
• and
• compares stored images within the geographic radius to the surrounding images,
• until the comparison of the stored images to the surrounding images within a given geographic radius yields the actual position with a predetermined certainty.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

• identifying, at a central location, an expected position of an autonomous vehicle which is moving;
• and
• identifying an actual position of the autonomous vehicle, by:
• transmitting, at the central location to the autonomous vehicle, a request for on-board location information, the on-board location information comprising:
• surrounding images comprising surroundings of the autonomous vehicle;
• and
• peer GPS (Global Positioning System) data for proximate peers;
• receiving, at the central location from the autonomous vehicle and in response to the request, the surrounding images;
• receiving, at the central location from the autonomous vehicle and in response to the request, the peer GPS data;
• determining, based on the peer GPS data in the on-board location information, that the actual position of the autonomous vehicle is outside a threshold range of the expected position, to yield a determination;
• initiating, based on the determination, an iterative image comparison, wherein each iteration of the iterative image comparison:
• extends a geographic radius extending from the expected position;
• and
• compares stored images within the geographic radius to the surrounding images,
• until the comparison of the stored images to the surrounding images within a given geographic radius yields the actual position with a predetermined certainty.