Estimating road lane geometry using lane marker observations
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsDavid Ian Franklin Ferguson, Jiajun Zhu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to detecting the edges of lane lines. Specifically, a vehicle driving on a roadway may use a laser to collect data for the roadway. A computer may process the data received from the laser in order to extract the points which potentially reside on two lane lines defining a lane. The extracted points are used by the computer to determine a model of a left lane edge and a right lane edge for the lane. The model may be used to estimate a centerline between the two lane lines. All or some of the model and centerline estimates, may be used to maneuver a vehicle in real time and also to update or generate map information used to maneuver vehicles.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- determining, by one or more computing devices, an initial estimate for a location of an edge of a lane marker bounding a lane of a roadway;
- generating, by the one or more computing devices, a set of possible estimates for the location of the edge based on an offset distance and the initial estimate;
- selecting, by the one or more computing devices, a most likely estimate of the set of possible estimates based on sensor data collected for the roadway;
- and
- fitting, by the one or more computing devices, the sensor data to a model describing a location and shape of the edge.
A system comprising:
- one or more computing devices each having one or more processors, the one or more computing devices configured to:
- determine an initial estimate for a location of an edge of a lane marker bounding a lane of a roadway;
- generate a set of possible estimates for the location of the edge based on an offset distance and the initial estimate;
- select a most likely estimate of the set of possible estimates based on sensor data collected for the roadway;
- and
- fit the sensor data to a model describing a location and shape of the edge.
A non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium on which computer readable instructions of a program are stored, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, the method comprising:
- determining an initial estimate for a location of an edge of a lane marker bounding a lane of a roadway;
- generating a set of possible estimates for the location of the edge based on an offset distance and the initial estimate;
- selecting a most likely estimate of the set of possible estimates based on sensor data collected for the roadway;
- and
- fitting the sensor data to a model describing a location and shape of the edge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.