Apparatus and method for determining lane change of surrounding objects

An apparatus for determining a lane change of an object located around a driving vehicle with which is equipped a sensor for the purpose of prompting the driving vehicle to avoid collision, wherein the lane change of the object intrudes the driving path of the driving vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory configured to store scanning information obtained by scanning surroundings of the driving vehicle;
• and
• a processor configured to determine a lane change of the object from the scanning information,
• wherein the processor is configured to detect a plurality of objects located around the driving vehicle using scanning information obtained repeatedly at every predetermined period of time by the sensor scanning surroundings of the driving vehicle, to select at least one candidate object estimated to change lanes among the plurality of objects based on previously detected lane edge information, to determine whether the at least one candidate object changes lanes based on information including an angle of a heading direction of the candidate object on movement of the at least one candidate object, and, when the at least one candidate object is determined to have changed lane, to prompt the driving vehicle to accelerate, decelerate, or change its driving direction,
• wherein the sensor includes a LIDAR sensor and the scanning information includes a plurality of scanning points obtained through the LIDAR sensor, and the sensor further includes an imaging device and the previously detected lane edge information includes coordinate information of lane edges detected from images obtained through the imaging device,
• wherein the processor is further configured to detect a side surface of the at least one candidate object using scanning points corresponding to a plane perpendicular to a ground surface on which the driving vehicle is located from the plurality of scanning points;
• and
• determine an angle between a line at which the detected side surface intersects with the ground surface and a line circumscribing a lane edge of a lane within which the driving vehicle travels.

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program including instructions for executing a method for determining a lane change of an object located around a driving vehicle with which is equipped a sensor for the purpose of prompting the driving vehicle to avoid collision, wherein the lane change of the object intrudes the driving path of the driving vehicle, the method comprising:

• detecting a plurality of objects located around a driving vehicle with which is equipped a sensor using scanning information obtained repeatedly at every predetermined period of time by the sensor scanning surroundings of the driving vehicle;
• selecting at least one candidate object estimated to change lanes among the plurality of objects based on previously detected lane edge information;
• determining whether the at least one candidate object changes lanes based on information including an angle of a heading direction of the candidate object on movement of the at least one candidate object;
• and
• prompting the driving vehicle, upon determination of the lane change of the at least one candidate object, to avoid collision with the at least one candidate object by accelerating, decelerating, or changing its driving direction,
• wherein the sensor includes a LIDAR sensor and the scanning information includes a plurality of scanning points obtained through the LIDAR sensor, and the sensor further includes an imaging device and the previously detected lane edge information includes coordinate information of lane edges detected from images obtained through the imaging device,
• wherein the determining of whether the at least one candidate object changes lanes based on information including an angle of a heading direction of the candidate object on movement of the at least one candidate object comprises:
• detecting a side surface of the at least one candidate object using scanning points corresponding to a plane perpendicular to a ground surface on which the driving vehicle is located from the plurality of scanning points;
• and
• determining an angle between a line at which the detected side surface intersects with the ground surface and a line circumscribing a lane edge of a lane within which the driving vehicle travels.