Path prediction system and method

In a system for use in a vehicle, said system including a forward looking sensor for providing range, angle and velocity data for objects within a field of view in front of said vehicle, measuring systems for providing velocity and yaw rate data for said vehicle, and a processing system responsive to said forward looking sensor and said measuring systems, a method for detecting objects in a predicted path of said vehicle while moving on a highway lane, said method comprising the steps of:

• a. calculating an estimated path of said vehicle based on its velocity and yaw rate while said vehicle traverses the highway lane;
• b. calculating estimated paths for each of said objects sensed within the field of view in front of said vehicle;
• c. determining a lateral distance of each object sensed within the field of view in front of said vehicle from the predicted path of said vehicle;
• and
• d. classifying each object sensed within the field of view in front of said vehicle as either in or out of the highway lane of said vehicle while said vehicle traverses the highway lane, wherein the predicted path of said vehicle is generated by correlating the estimated path of said vehicle and said objects and fusing the paths of said objects as a weighted average.

In a system for use in a host vehicle, said system including a forward looking radar system for providing range, angle and velocity data for targets within a field of view in front of said vehicle, measuring systems for providing velocity and yaw rate data for said vehicle, and a processing system responsive to said forward looking radar system and said measuring systems, a method for detecting targets in a predicted path of said host vehicle while moving on a highway lane, said method comprising:

• (a) calculating a host vehicle path estimate from said velocity and yaw rate data for said host vehicle while said host vehicle traverses the highway lane;
• (b) propagating target position histories with said host vehicle path estimate;
• (c) propagating target positions forward with longitudinal and lateral target position state vectors;
• (d) calculating polynomial curve fits for host vehicle and target position state vectors;
• (e) generating said predicted path by correlating said estimated path of said host vehicle and target paths and then fusing the target paths as a weighted average;
• (f) comparing target cross range positions to said predicted path of said host vehicle on the highway lane and classifying targets as in-lane or out-of-lane with respect to the highway lane of said host vehicle;
• (g) receiving updated data from said forward looking radar system;
• and
• (h) repeating steps a through g continuously.