Automotive cooperative map-free lane-level relative localization based on inter-vehicular communication

An automotive electronic system configured for automotive cooperative lane-level relative localization based on inter-vehicular communication of two motor vehicles each equipped with such an automotive electronic system;

• the automotive electronic system of each motor vehicle comprising:
• an automotive sensory system including sensors configured to identify a right lane line and a left lane line to delimit a lane of travel for the motor vehicle on a roadway, the sensors further configured to generate an output identifying location of the right lane line and the left lane line;
• an automotive geo-location system configured to output position data indicative of a geographical position of the motor vehicle;
• an automotive communication interface configured for communication between the motor vehicle and other motor vehicles through an inter-vehicular communication based on inter-vehicular messaging;
• and
• automotive electronic storing and processing resources including a storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to communicate with the automotive sensory system to receive the output therefrom, communicate with the automotive geo-location system to receive the position data therefrom, and communicate with the automotive communication interface and to allow the lane-level relative localization of the two motor vehicles;
• wherein to perform the lane-level relative localization of the first motor vehicle by the second motor vehicle, the instructions stored by the storage medium when executed by the processor further cause the processor to:
• determine, based on the output of the automotive sensory system, one or both of the right and left lane lines which delimit the lane travelled by the first motor vehicle;
• compute, based on the one or both of the determined right and left lane lines, one or both of right and left distances of the first motor vehicle from the identified right and left lane lines;
• and
• transmit to the second motor vehicle, via the inter-vehicular communication interface, inter-vehicular messages containing position data indicative of the geographical position of the first motor vehicle and distance data representative of the one or both of the right and left distances of the first motor vehicle from the identified right and left lane lines;
• wherein to allow the lane-level relative localization of the second motor vehicle by the first motor vehicle, the instructions stored by the storage medium when executed by the processor further cause the processor to:
• receive, via the automotive communication interface, inter-vehicular messages from the second motor vehicle and containing position data indicative of the geographical position of the second motor vehicle and outputted by the automotive geo-location system of the second motor vehicle, and distance data representative of one or both of the right and left distances of the second motor vehicle from one or both of the right and left lane lines delimit the lane travelled by the second motor vehicle and determined by the automotive electronic storing and processing vehicle resources of the second motor vehicle based on the output of the automotive sensory system thereof;
• extract position and distance data contained in the inter-vehicular messages received by the second motor vehicle;
• and
• lane-level localize the second motor vehicle relative to the first motor vehicle, thus determining whether the second motor vehicle is traveling along the same or a different lane than the one travelled by the first motor vehicle, based on the geographical position of the first motor vehicle, on the one or both of the right and left lane lines which delimit the lane travelled by the first motor vehicle, and on the geographical position of the second motor vehicle and on one or both right and left distances of the second motor vehicle from one or both of the right and left lane lines which delimit the lane travelled by the second motor vehicle and which are extracted from the inter-vehicular messages transmitted by the second motor vehicle.