Method and system for vehicle trajectory estimation

A method of estimating a trajectory of a vehicle having an Electronic Stability Program (ESP), the method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining sensor data pertaining to dynamics of the vehicle;
• calculating an estimate of the trajectory of the vehicle using the sensor data and vehicle dynamics parameters estimated by the ESP;
• obtaining sensor data at a plurality of instants of time;
• recording the sensor data;
• when the vehicle is one of online and offline, inputting the recorded sensor data into an ESP;
• estimating the position of the vehicle at each of the plurality of instants in time using the sensor data and the vehicle dynamics parameters;
• recording the position for each of the plurality of instants in time;
• and
• assembling a trajectory of the vehicle from each of the recorded positions;
• wherein the steps of obtaining sensor data and calculating the estimate of the trajectory of the vehicle are performed independently of any external signal communication infrastructure-based trajectory estimation tools.

A method of estimating a trajectory of a vehicle having an Electronic Stability Program (ESP), the method comprising the steps of:

• a) obtaining a yaw rate and a lateral acceleration of the vehicle at an instant in time using sensors;
• b) deriving further parameters pertaining to dynamics of the vehicle using the ESP;
• c) compensating for sensor drift using drift estimates calculated by the ESP;
• d) calculating an estimate of the instantaneous position of the vehicle relative to a stationary coordinate system using the yaw rate, the lateral acceleration and the further parameters as compensated for sensor drift;
• e) repeating steps a) to d) over time;
• and
• f) assembling an estimation of the trajectory of the vehicle from a series of vehicle positions.

A method of estimating a trajectory of a vehicle having an Electronic Stability Program (ESP), the method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining sensor data pertaining to dynamics of the vehicle;
• calculating an estimate of the trajectory of the vehicle using the sensor data and vehicle dynamics parameters estimated by the ESP;
• using the estimate of the trajectory of the vehicle in a pre-defined trajectory tracking in an autonomous vehicle;
• and
• calculating vehicle dynamics parameters required to control the autonomous vehicle to follow the pre-defined trajectory using an inverse of equations used to estimate the trajectory;
• wherein the steps of obtaining sensor data and calculating the estimate of the trajectory of the vehicle are performed independently of any external signal communication infrastructure-based trajectory estimation tools.

A system for estimating a trajectory of a vehicle having an Electronic Stability Program (ESP), comprising:

• an electronic control unit including a RAM unit and a ROM unit, the ROM unit storing the ESP;
• a data bus coupled to the electronic control unit;
• a yaw rate sensor coupled to the data bus for detecting yaw rate data, the yaw rate sensor communicating the yaw rate data to the electronic control unit via the data bus;
• and
• a lateral acceleration sensor coupled to the data bus for detecting lateral acceleration data, the lateral acceleration sensor communicating the lateral acceleration data to the electronic control unit via the data bus;
• wherein the electronic control unit executes the ESP and calculates vehicle dynamics parameters and computes an estimate of the trajectory of the vehicle using the yaw rate data, the lateral acceleration data and the vehicle dynamics parameters;
• and
• wherein the electronic control unit compensates for errors caused by sensor drift.