# US 7,610,146 B2 · Vehicle position determining system and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,610,146 B2 - Document ID: US7610146B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/874,418 - Filed: 2007-10-18 - Published: 2008-02-14 - Granted: 2009-10-27 - Earliest claimed: 1997-11-22 - Assignees: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc. - Inventors: David S. Breed - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7610146B2 ## CPC - G01W 1/00: Meteorology - B60N 2/2863: {backward facing} - B60W 30/04: related to roll-over prevention - B60W 30/18154: {Approaching an intersection} - B60W 40/06: Road conditions - B60W 50/00: Details of control systems for road vehicle drive control not related to the control of a particular sub-unit {, e.g. process diagnostic or vehicle driver interfaces} - G01C 21/28: with correlation of data from several navigational instruments - G01S 13/931: of land vehicles - G01S 17/86: Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders - G01S 17/89: for mapping or imaging - G01S 19/17: Emergency applications - G01S 19/42: Determining position - G01S 19/50: whereby the position solution is constrained to lie upon a particular curve or surface, e.g. for locomotives on railway tracks - G05D 1/0234: {using optical markers or beacons (optical beacons per se G01S1/70)} - G08G 1/161: {Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication} - G08G 1/163: {involving continuous checking} - G08G 1/164: {Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles} - B60W 10/06: including control of combustion engines - B60W 10/18: including control of braking systems - B60W 10/20: including control of steering systems - B60W 30/02: Control of vehicle driving stability - B60W 30/14: {Adaptive} cruise control - B60W 30/18172: {Preventing, or responsive to skidding of wheels} - B60W 40/072: Curvature of the road - B60W 40/076: Slope angle of the road - B60W 50/14: Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention - B60W 2050/0071: {Controller overrides driver automatically} - B60W 2050/0073: {Driver overrides controller} - B60W 2050/0075: {Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means} - B60W 2556/50: of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data - G01S 19/41: Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS] - G01S 2007/4975: {of sensor obstruction by, e.g. dirt- or ice-coating, e.g. by reflection measurement on front-screen} - G01S 2013/9315: {Monitoring blind spots} - G01S 2013/9316: {combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations} - G01S 2013/9318: {Controlling the steering} - G01S 2013/93185: {Controlling the brakes} - G01S 2013/9319: {Controlling the accelerator} - G01S 2013/932: {using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction} - G01S 2013/9321: {Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control} - G01S 2013/9322: {using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data} - G01S 2013/93271: {in the front of the vehicles} - G01S 2013/93272: {in the back of the vehicles} - G01S 2013/93273: {on the top of the vehicles} - G01S 2013/9329: {cooperating with reflectors or transponders} - G05D 1/0274: {using mapping information stored in a memory device (navigation using map-matching G01C21/30)} - G05D 1/0278: {using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS} - G08G 1/165: {for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees} - G08G 1/166: {for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes} - G08G 1/167: {Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection} - G01W: METEOROLOGY (radar, sonar, lidar or analogous systems, designed for meteorological use G01S13/95, G01S15/88, G01S17/95) - B60N: SEATS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES; VEHICLE PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) ## Abstract Vehicle positioning system and method for enabling a vehicle to determine its position while traveling on a road in which an identity of at least one marker is determined as the vehicle passes each marker. The position of each marker is determined from its identification, e.g., with reference to a database, and thus the position of the vehicle, can be determined. Various markers may be used, including fixed markers arranged proximate the road. If three such fixed markers are provided, the position of the vehicle can be determined using triangulation. The fixed markers may be visual markers, passive transponder-type markers, active transponder-type markers and/or reflectors. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle positioning system for enabling a vehicle to determine its absolute position while traveling on a road, comprising: a determining system arranged on the vehicle and which determines an identity of at least one marker as the vehicle passes said at least one marker; a positioning system on the vehicle coupled to said determining system and which provides positions of markers and their identifications, such that once the identity of said at least one marker is determined and provided to said positioning system, the absolute position of said at least one marker is provided by said positioning system; and a position determining system on the vehicle and coupled to said positioning system, said position determining system being arranged to receive from said determining system the absolute position of said at least one marker whose identity is determined by said determining system, and determine the position of the vehicle relative to said at least one marker, whereby an absolute position of the vehicle can be derived from the position of the vehicle relative to said at least one marker and the absolute position of said at least one marker. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one marker is a fixed marker arranged proximate the road. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein said at least one marker comprises at least three markers, said position determining system receiving the absolute position of said at least three markers whose identity is determined by said determining system and determining the absolute position of the vehicle based on the absolute position of said at least three markers using triangulation. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one marker is a visual marker, a passive transponder-type marker, an active transponder-type marker or a reflector. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one marker is a scan of an environment around the road on which the vehicle is traveling, said determining system containing invariant, expected received scans of the environment around roads such that comparison of the scan to the expected received scans provides information about the identity of the scan. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein said determining system comprises a laser or radar unit which obtains the scan of the environment around the road on which the vehicle is traveling. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said positioning system comprises a database containing absolute positions of markers and their identifications. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one marker comprises a plurality of transmitters arranged to transmit signals into an area above the road on which the vehicle is traveling, said positioning system being arranged to derive positional information about said transmitters from signals transmitted by said transmitters. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein said transmitters are a group of linked micropower impulse radar, infrared or radio-frequency transmitters which direct signals to a common area through which the vehicle passes. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, further comprising an interrogator arranged on the vehicle, said transmitters being a group of RFID devices arranged to generate signals upon receipt of an interrogation signal transmitted from said interrogator. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising a communications system arranged on the vehicle for transmitting the determined or absolute position of the vehicle to another vehicle or to a remote facility. ### Claim 12 A method for enabling a vehicle to determine its absolute position while traveling on a road, comprising: providing a processor on the vehicle, using the processor, determining an identity of at least one marker as the vehicle passes the at least one marker; using the processor, determining the absolute position of the at least one marker based on the determined identity of the at least one marker; and using the processor, determining the position of the vehicle relative to the at least one marker based on the determined absolute position of the at least one marker, whereby an absolute position of the vehicle can be derived from the position of the vehicle relative to the at least one marker and the absolute position of the at least one marker. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: fixing the at least one marker in a fixed position proximate the road; and forming a database containing information about the at least one marker and its fixed position such that once the identity of the at least one marker is determined, reference to the database by the processor provides the absolute position of the at least one marker. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one marker comprises at least three markers such that the absolute position of the at least three markers is determined, further comprising determining, using a processor, the absolute position of the vehicle based on the determined absolute position of the at least three markers using triangulation. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one marker comprises a plurality of transmitters, further comprising transmitting signals from the transmitters into a common area above the road on which the vehicle is traveling, the position of the transmitters being determined by a processor from the transmitted signals. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: arranging an interrogator on the vehicle; and providing the transmitters as a group of RFID devices arranged to generate signals upon receipt of an interrogation signal transmitted from the interrogator, the position of the markers being determined by a processor based on the generated signals. ### Claim 17 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting the determined or absolute position of the vehicle once known via a transmitter to another vehicle or to a remote facility. ### Claim 18 A method for enabling a vehicle to determine its position while traveling on roads, comprising: fixing a plurality of groups of markers in fixed positions alongside, on or in the road; forming a database containing the identity of the markers and their position; and providing the database to a processor on the vehicle such that when the vehicle passes a group of markers, the vehicle interacts with the markers and the processor determines an identity of each marker and then by accessing the database, determines the position of the markers and thus the position of the vehicle. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the groups of markers is a group of transmitters, further comprising transmitting signals from the transmitters into a common area above the road on which the vehicle is traveling, the position of the transmitters being determined by a processor from the transmitted signals. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, further comprising: arranging an interrogator on the vehicle; and providing the transmitters as a group of RFID devices arranged to generate signals upon receipt of an interrogation signal transmitted from the interrogator, the position of the markers being determined by a processor based on the generated signals.