Navigation and mapping based on detected arrow orientation

A method for mapping a directional arrow for use in autonomous vehicle navigation, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a server, at least one location identifier associated with a directional arrow detected by a vehicle located remotely from the server, the direction arrow being on a surface of a road, and the at least one location identifier being transmitted to the server from the vehicle located remotely from the server;
• receiving, by the server, at least one directional indicator associated with the detected directional arrow, the at least one directional indicator being transmitted to the server from the vehicle located remotely from the server;
• associating, by the server, the detected directional arrow with a corresponding road segment;
• updating, by the server, an autonomous vehicle road navigation model relative to the corresponding road segment based on the at least one location identifier and based on the at least one directional indicator associated with the detected directional arrow, wherein the autonomous vehicle road navigation model includes at least one target trajectory for a vehicle to follow along the corresponding road segment, the at least one target trajectory being related to the detected directional arrow;
• and
• automatically distributing, by the server, the updated autonomous vehicle road navigation model to a plurality of autonomous vehicles via one or more networks through one or more wireless communication paths, wherein at least one of the plurality of autonomous vehicles is configured to implement at least one navigational action based on the updated autonomous vehicle road navigation model.

A system for autonomously navigating a host vehicle along a road segment, the system comprising:

• at least one processor included in a host vehicle and programmed to:
• receive from an image capture device at least one image representative of an environment of the host vehicle;
• detect in the at least one image a representation of an arrow present on a road surface;
• identify two or more points of the arrow in the at least one image, the two or more points including at least one of a tip point, an exterior vertex point, or an interior vertex point;
• determine a pointing direction of the detected arrow based on analysis of the two or more points of the arrow in the at least one image;
• determine a location of the detected arrow by analyzing the at least one image;
• transmit, to a server located remotely from the host vehicle, the pointing direction and the location of the detected arrow;
• determine an autonomous navigational action for the host vehicle based on the determined pointing direction of the detected arrow;
• and
• cause at least one actuator system of the host vehicle to implement the determined autonomous navigational action.

A method for autonomously navigating a host vehicle along a road segment, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the host vehicle, from an image capture device at least one image representative of an environment of the host vehicle;
• detecting, by the host vehicle, in the at least one image a representation of an arrow present on a road surface;
• determining, by the host vehicle, a pointing direction of the detected arrow based on analysis of the at least one image;
• identifying, by the host vehicle, two or more points of the arrow in the at least one image, the two or more points including at least one of a tip point, an exterior vertex point, or an interior vertex point;
• determining, by the host vehicle, a location of the detected arrow by analyzing the two or more points of the arrow in the at least one image;
• transmitting, by the host vehicle to a server located remotely from the host vehicle, the pointing direction and the location of the detected arrow;
• determining, by the host vehicle, an autonomous navigational action for the host vehicle based on the determined pointing direction of the detected arrow;
• and
• causing, by the host vehicle, at least one actuator system of the host vehicle to implement the determined autonomous navigational action.

A system for autonomously navigating a host vehicle along a road segment, the system comprising:

• at least one processor included in the host vehicle and programmed to:
• receive from a server-based system an autonomous vehicle road navigation model, wherein the autonomous vehicle road navigation model includes a mapped directional arrow associated with the road segment, and wherein the mapped directional arrow includes at least one of an indication of an orientation of the directional arrow or a location of the directional arrow;
• determine an autonomous navigational action for the host vehicle based on at least one of the orientation of the directional arrow or the location of the directional arrow;
• and
• cause at least one actuator system of the host vehicle to implement the determined autonomous navigational action,
• wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to receive from an image capture device at least one image representative of an environment of the host vehicle, and
• wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to determine the autonomous navigational action for the host vehicle based on at least one of the orientation of the directional arrow or the location of the directional arrow included in the autonomous vehicle road navigation model received from the server-based system, even where a representation of the directional arrow does not appear in the at least one image representative of the environment of the host vehicle.

A method for autonomously navigating a host vehicle along a road segment, the method comprising:

• receiving from a server-based system an autonomous vehicle road navigation model, wherein the autonomous vehicle road navigation model includes a mapped directional arrow associated with the road segment, and wherein the mapped directional arrow includes at least one of an indication of an orientation of the directional arrow or a location of the directional arrow;
• determining an autonomous navigational action for the host vehicle based on at least one of the orientation of the directional arrow or the location of the directional arrow;
• and
• causing at least one actuator system of the host vehicle to implement the determined autonomous navigational action,
• wherein the method further comprises:
• receiving from an image capture device at least one image representative of an environment of the host vehicle;
• and
• determining the autonomous navigational action for the host vehicle based on at least one of the orientation of the directional arrow or the location of the directional arrow included in the autonomous vehicle road navigation model received from the server-based system, even where a representation of the directional arrow does not appear in the at least one image representative of the environment of the host vehicle.