Distinguishing lane markings for a vehicle to follow

A method for use at a computer system, the computer system including one or more processors and system memory, the method for automatically controlling a vehicle by distinguishing road-surface markings on a roadway, the method comprising the one or more processors:

• accessing sensor data from a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors monitoring the roadway where the vehicle is traveling, the plurality of sensors including a first type of sensor and at least a second different type of sensor, the sensor data indicating road-surface markings, the road-surface markings including intensity of color and reflectivity, the sensor data also indicating the location and trajectory of neighboring vehicles;
• determining bounding boxes from the accessed sensor data, the bounding boxes representing regions of interest for distinguishing road-surface markings and neighboring vehicles;
• processing the accessed sensor data within the bounding boxes to determine that multiple road-surface markings are present;
• in response to determining that multiple road-surface markings are present:
• utilizing the sensor data to identify road-surface markings, from among the multiple road-surface markings, the vehicle is to follow;
• using the location and trajectory of neighboring vehicles to increase confidence with respect to the identified road-surface markings;
• and
• controlling the vehicle's location and trajectory on the roadway by following the identified road-surface markings.

A vehicle comprising:

• one or more processors;
• system memory, the system memory storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors;
• a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors including a first type of sensor and at least a second different type of sensor, the plurality of sensors monitoring a roadway where the vehicle is traveling;
• the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to automatically control the vehicle, including the following:
• access sensor data from the plurality of sensors, the sensor data indicating road-surface markings the road-surface markings including intensity of color and reflectivity, the sensor data also indicating the location and trajectory of neighboring vehicles;
• determine bounding boxes from the accessed sensor data, the bounding boxes representing regions of interest for distinguishing road-surface markings and neighboring vehicles;
• process the accessed sensor data within the bounding boxes to determine that multiple road-surface markings are present;
• in response to determining that multiple road-surface markings are present:
• utilize the sensor data to identify road-surface markings, from among the multiple road-surface markings, the vehicle is to follow;
• use the location and trajectory of neighboring vehicles to increase confidence with respect to the identified road-surface markings;
• and
• control the vehicle's location and trajectory on the roadway by following the identified road-surface markings.