Systems and methods for improving path selection for automated driving

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for improving identification of a path for an ego vehicle on a roadway and that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

• in response to acquiring sensor data from at least one sensor of the ego vehicle about a surrounding environment, identify roadway elements from the sensor data as cues about the path, wherein the roadway elements include one or more of lane markers of the roadway and surrounding vehicles;
• group the roadway elements into two or more groups according to characteristics of roadway elements indicating common curvatures,
• analyze the two or more groups according to a confidence heuristic to determine a priority group from the two or more groups that corresponds with a trajectory of the ego vehicle;
• and
• provide an identifier for the priority group to facilitate at least path planning for the ego vehicle.

A method of improving identification of a path for an ego vehicle on a roadway, comprising:

• in response to acquiring sensor data from at least one sensor of the ego vehicle about a surrounding environment, identifying roadway elements from the sensor data as cues about the path, wherein the roadway elements include one or more of lane markers of the roadway and surrounding vehicles;
• grouping the roadway elements into two or more groups according to characteristics of roadway elements indicating common curvatures;
• analyzing the two or more groups according to a confidence heuristic to determine a priority group from the two or more groups that corresponds with a trajectory of the ego vehicle;
• and
• providing an identifier for the priority group to facilitate at least path planning for the ego vehicle.