Method and arrangement for mapping a road

An arrangement for attaching to a vehicle to enable mapping of a road during travel of the vehicle, comprising:

• a first data acquisition module adapted to be arranged on a first side of the vehicle;
• a second data acquisition module adapted to be arranged on a second side of the vehicle;
• each of said modules comprising a GPS receiver and an antenna for enabling a determination of the position of the vehicle to be obtained and a scanning laser radar adapted to transmit waves downward in a plane perpendicular to the road and receive reflected radar waves to thereby provide information about distance between said laser radar and the ground which constitutes information about the road;
• and
• processor means coupled to said modules for forming a map database of the road by correlating the position of the vehicle on the road and the information about the road.

A method for mapping a road, comprising the steps of:

• arranging a first data acquisition module on a first side of the vehicle;
• arranging a second data acquisition module on a second side of the vehicle, each of the modules comprising a GPS receiver and an antenna and a linear camera oriented to provide one-dimensional images in a vertical plane of an area on a respective one of the first and second sides of the vehicle;
• operating the vehicle on the road while continually obtaining the position of the vehicle using the GPS receiver and antenna and obtaining images from the linear cameras of vertical planes perpendicular to the road;
• and
• forming a map database of the road by correlating the position of the vehicle on the road and information about the road obtained from the images from the linear cameras.

A method for mapping a road, comprising the steps of:

• arranging a first data acquisition module on a first side of the vehicle;
• arranging a second data acquisition module on a second side of the vehicle;
• each of the modules comprising a GPS receiver and an antenna and a scanning laser radar oriented to transmit waves downward in a plane perpendicular to the road and receive reflected radar waves;
• operating the vehicle on the road while continually obtaining the position of the vehicle using the GPS receiver and antenna and obtaining information about the distance between the laser radars and the ground by transmitting and receiving radar waves;
• and
• forming a map database of the road by correlating the position of the vehicle on the road and the information about distance between the laser radars and the ground.