# US 12,002,355 B2 · Method for guiding path by extracting guiding information in lane and electronic device for executing the method

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- Number: US 12,002,355 B2
- Document ID: US12002355B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/108,632
- Filed: 2023-02-12
- Published: 2023-06-15
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2018-12-07
- Assignees: Thinkware Corporation
- Applicants: Thinkware Corporation
- Inventors: Han Woo Lee
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12002355B2

## CPC

- G08G 1/04: using optical or ultrasonic detectors
- G06F 18/211: Selection of the most significant subset of features
- G06V 20/588: {Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road}
- G08G 1/0145: {for active traffic flow control}
- G08G 1/096822: {where the segments of the route are transmitted to the vehicle at different locations and times}
- G08G 1/096861: {where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn}
- G08G 1/166: {for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes}
- G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93})
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING

## Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for guiding a path of an electronic device and an electronic device. The method for guiding a path according to the present disclosure includes: acquiring a top-view image; extracting guiding information in a lane from lane information extracted from the top-view image; and guiding a path of a vehicle using the extracted lane information and the guiding information in the lane. According to the present disclosure, it is possible to promote safe driving by guiding a possible traveling direction on the path to a driver in real time through image analysis of a traveling road. In addition, it is possible to provide more detailed path guidance by providing the path guidance reflecting the necessity of lane change by recognizing the lane of the driving path.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for guiding a path, comprising:
acquiring an image;
converting the acquired image into a top-view image;
extracting a lane from a lane display line in the converted top-view image;
searching a candidate area in the extracted lane using a mask;
extracting a guiding information by comparing changes in a distribution of feature values of an arrow head portion within the candidate area relative to an x-axis or a y-axis; and
guiding a path of a vehicle using the extracted lane and the guiding information in the lane.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the guiding information in the lane is information for guiding a possible traveling direction of the vehicle in the lane, and
in the extracting the guiding information, the information for guiding the possible traveling direction is determined by comparing with a histogram which defines the distribution of the feature values according to locations of pixels in the image.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein in the extracting the guiding information, the distribution of the feature values is extracted by searching for pixels in the top-view image based on the x-axis or the y-axis.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein in the extracting the guiding information, a search criterion of a pixel for determining the distribution of the feature values is determined according to a continuous direction of the mask.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the mask is formed in rectangles continued in a horizontal direction based on the image, and includes a first mask that recognizes an upward possible traveling direction and a second mask that recognizes a downward possible traveling direction.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the mask is formed in rectangles continued in a vertical direction based on the image, and includes a third mask that recognizes a leftward possible traveling direction and a fourth mask that recognizes a rightward possible traveling direction.

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein in the extracting of the guiding information, template matching or a support vector machine (SVM) is further used to recognize the possible traveling direction of the lane.

### Claim 8 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein in the extracting the guiding information, whether a tail portion in a shape of an arrow includes additional information to recognize the possible traveling direction or an impossible traveling direction is further determined.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein in the guiding the path of the vehicle, the path of the vehicle and the guiding information in the lane are compared to guide whether a change to another lane is necessary.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein in the guiding the path of the vehicle, whether a vehicle exists in the lane to guide whether a change to another lane is necessary is further determined.

### Claim 11

An electronic device, comprising:
an image acquisition unit configured to acquire an image;
an image conversion unit configured to convert the acquired image into a top-view image;
a lane extraction unit configured to extract a lane from a lane display line in the converted top-view image;
a guiding information extraction unit configured to extracting a guiding information by comparing changes in a distribution of feature values of an arrow head portion within a candidate area in the extracted lane using a mask relative to an x-axis and a y-axis; and
a path guide unit configured to guide a path of a vehicle using the extracted lane and the guiding information in the lane.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the guiding information extraction unit recognizes a possible traveling direction of the vehicle in the lane, and
in the guiding information extraction unit, information for guiding the possible traveling direction is determined by comparing with a histogram which defines the distribution of the feature values according to locations of pixels in the image.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The electronic device of claim 12, wherein in the guiding information extraction unit, the distribution of the feature values is extracted by searching for pixels in the top-view image based on the x-axis or the y-axis.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The electronic device of claim 13, wherein in the guiding information extraction unit, a search criterion of a pixel for determining the distribution of the feature values is determined according to a continuous direction of the mask.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the mask is formed in rectangles continued in a vertical direction based on the image, and includes a third mask that recognizes a leftward possible traveling direction and a fourth mask that recognizes a rightward possible traveling direction.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the guiding information extraction unit further uses template matching or a support vector machine (SVM) to recognize the possible traveling direction of the lane.

### Claim 17 (depends on 12)

The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the guiding information extraction unit further determines whether a tail portion in a shape of an arrow includes additional information to recognize the possible traveling direction or an impossible traveling direction.

### Claim 18 (depends on 12)

The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the path guide unit determines whether a vehicle exists in the lane to guide whether a change to another lane is necessary.

### Claim 19 (depends on 1)

A program stored in a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium to perform the method for guiding a path according to the method of claim 1.

### Claim 20 (depends on 1)

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program for performing the method for guiding a path according to the method of claim 1.