Method and apparatus for the detection and labeling of features of an environment through contextual clues

A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions to:

• receive sensor data from an image sensor, wherein the sensor data is representative of a first image including an aerial view of a geographic region;
• detect, using a perception module, at least one vehicle within the image of the geographic region;
• identify a location of the at least one vehicle;
• determine, from map data, that a mapped road is within a predefined distance of the location of the at least one vehicle;
• identify an area around the at least one vehicle as a road segment in response to detecting the at least one vehicle and the location of the at least one vehicle being within the predefined distance of the mapped road;
• based on the identification of the area around the vehicle as a road segment, identify features within the area as road features based on a context of the area, wherein road features comprise one or more of road signs, lane lines, or road boundaries;
• generate a map update for the road features of the road segment;
• and
• cause a map database to be updated with the road features of the road segment.

A method comprising:

• receiving sensor data from an image sensor, wherein the sensor data is representative of a first image including an aerial view of a geographic region;
• detecting, using a perception module, at least one vehicle within the image of the geographic region;
• identifying a location of the at least one vehicle;
• determining, from map data, that a mapped road is within a predefined distance of the location of the at least one vehicle;
• identifying an area around the at least one vehicle as a road segment in response to detecting the at least one vehicle and the location of the at least one vehicle being within the predefined distance of the mapped road;
• based on the identification of the area around the vehicle as a road segment, identifying features within the area as road features based on a context of the area, wherein road features comprise one or more of road signs, lane lines, or road boundaries;
• generating a map update for the road features of the road segment;
• and
• causing a map database to be updated with the road features of the road segment.