System and assessment of reflective objects along a roadway
AssigneeFacet Technology Corp.
InventorsJames E. Retterath, Robert A. Laumeyer
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Abstract
A system for the assessment of reflective surfaces disposed along a roadway repeatedly illuminates an area along the roadway that includes at least one reflective surface using a light source. Multiple light intensity values are measured over a field of view which includes at least a portion of the area illuminated by the light source. A computer processing system is used to identifying a portion of the light intensity values associated with a reflective surface and analyze the portion of the light intensity values to determine assessment for that reflective surface.
Claims23
An automated method for classifying a reflective road marker having at least one color comprising:
- using a light source to illuminate at least a portion of the reflective road marker as the light source is traversed along a roadway;
- collecting a plurality of light intensity measurements reflected from the at least a portion of the reflective road marker, the light intensity measurements corresponding to exemplary angular displacements of incident light from a reference position;
- providing a database of retroreflectivity profiles, each retroreflectivity profile having an associated known road marker type having a known color;
- and
- using a computer processing system configured to:
- generate an as-measured retroreflectivity profile based on the plurality of light intensity measurements;
- select at least one retroreflectivity profile from the database of retroreflectivity profiles that correlates to at least a portion of the as-measured retroreflectivity profile;
- determine a road marker type from a set of road markers that is associated with the selected at least one retroreflectivity profile;
- and
- classify the road marker according to the color associated with the determined road marker type.
An automated method of assessing reflective surfaces disposed along a roadway comprising:
- activating a light source as the light source is traversed along a roadway to illuminate an area that includes at least one reflective surface on a road marker, the road marker having a reflective characteristic;
- determining a plurality of light intensity values with at least one intensity sensor directed to cover a field of view which includes at least a portion of the area illuminated by the light source;
- and
- using a computer processing system configured to:
- identify a portion of at least one light intensity value of the plurality of light intensity values associated with one of the at least one reflective surface of the road marker;
- and
- analyze the portion of the at least one light intensity value of the plurality of light intensity values to determine an assessment for the reflective characteristic of the road marker.
An automated system for assessing reflective surfaces disposed along a roadway comprising:
- a light source that is traversed along a roadway to illuminate an area that includes at least one reflective surface on a road marker, the road marker having a reflective characteristic;
- means for determining a plurality of light intensity values directed to cover a field of view which includes at least a portion of the area illuminated by the light source;
- and
- a computer processing system configured to:
- identify a portion of at least one light intensity value of the plurality of light intensity values associated with one of the at least one reflective surface of the road marker;
- and
- analyze the portion of the at least one light intensity value of the plurality of light intensity values to determine an assessment for the reflective characteristic of the road marker.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.