B-spline Path Planning for Autonomous Vehicle Turns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automated driving systems face challenges in efficiently handling turns greater than 90° and require significant processing for path planning, especially in complex urban and highway environments.
Innovation Solution
A path finding engine that uses b-spline functions to determine path data, ensuring continuity constraints for smooth path traversal, including 90°, U-turns, and roundabouts, and adjusts path data based on sensed obstacles and lane/road edges, utilizing sensors like cameras and lidar for real-time adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional path planning methods are used for turns greater than 90°, then the vehicle can navigate these turns, but the handling is not optimal and significant processing and path searching are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the path planning problem from discrete point-to-point navigation to continuous curve fitting by changing the mathematical representation parameters. By using B-spline functions with control points instead of traditional waypoint sequences, the system achieves both optimal handling through smooth continuous curves and improved processing efficiency through reduced computational search requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies curvature-based path representation using B-spline functions that generate smooth continuous curves through the waypoint set. This curvature-based approach naturally handles sharp turns and complex geometries better than traditional linear or piecewise methods, providing optimal vehicle handling while maintaining processing efficiency.
2Adaptability or versatility
If path planning systems handle complex urban and highway environments with various turn types, then navigation capability is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The B-spline based path planning system serves as a universal solution that handles multiple turn types (90° turns, U-turns, roundabouts) and environmental contexts (urban roads, highways) through a single mathematical framework. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate specialized algorithms for different scenarios, reducing overall processing complexity while maintaining high adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
System and methods are provided for path finding for autonomous driving systems. The systems and methods receive a set of way points defining path segments between adjacent way points, formulate a b-spline function as a function of the path segments, and determine path data based on the formulated b-spline function. Autonomous driving systems use the output path data for controlling a vehicle.