Digital Map Update via Vehicle Route Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital maps for highly or fully automated driving are not adequately updated to reflect current environmental changes, leading to inaccuracies and incomplete information, which can affect vehicle localization and route optimization.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a computing unit to record and compare environmental information with stored map data, navigating vehicles along routes with the most recent comparison history to update digital maps, ensuring all sections remain up-to-date by detecting and validating landmarks and environmental objects, and updating map data based on discrepancies found.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If digital map data is not frequently updated, then vehicle navigation systems can operate with simpler update mechanisms, but the map accuracy and timeliness deteriorate leading to localization errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables vehicles to automatically collect environmental information during normal operation and contribute it to map updates without requiring dedicated update missions. Vehicles serve themselves and the community by performing localization tasks during regular navigation, eliminating the need for complex centralized update coordination.
Solution Approach 2:
The same vehicle sensors and processing units used for primary navigation and localization tasks are also utilized for collecting and validating environmental map data. This multi-functionality allows the system to maintain high map accuracy without adding dedicated update hardware or complex update management infrastructure.
2Loss of information
If vehicles are dispatched to collect environmental information along rarely traveled routes, then complete map coverage is improved, but the time and resources required for updates increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously collects environmental information whenever vehicles traverse any route, transforming occasional rare route traversals into continuous data collection opportunities. This eliminates the need for dedicated update missions and ensures that even rarely traveled areas are gradually updated as vehicles naturally pass through them.
Solution Approach 2:
Environmental information is collected and validated in advance during normal vehicle operations, so that when map updates are needed, the data is already prepared and ready for integration. This preliminary data collection during routine operations eliminates the need for time-consuming dedicated update expeditions.
3Reliability
If environmental information is collected and compared from multiple routes, then the reliability of map updates is improved, but the computational complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system compares environmental information from multiple routes and uses the discrepancies as feedback to identify and correct map inaccuracies. This feedback mechanism improves update reliability by validating changes against multiple independent observations, while the automated comparison process manages computational complexity through efficient algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system integrates environmental information from multiple sources and routes into a composite validated map dataset. This composite approach combines data from different vehicles and routes, using their combined information to create more reliable and accurate map updates while distributing the processing load across multiple contributors.
4Measurement precision
If the digital map is updated frequently with latest environmental data, then localization accuracy is improved, but the energy consumption and computational load on the system increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs partial map updates only in areas where environmental changes are detected or where localization accuracy degrades, rather than continuously updating the entire map. This selective updating approach maintains high localization accuracy where needed while reducing overall energy consumption and computational load compared to comprehensive frequent updates.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention proposes a method, a computing unit (10) that carries out the method and a system comprising the computing unit (10) for updating a digital map for localizing motor vehicles. In the case of the method for updating a digital map for localizing motor vehicles, to update the digital map, ambient information of a vehicle is recorded and the recorded ambient information is compared with ambient information stored on the digital map. The vehicle is thereby localized on the digital map, which means that the location or position of the vehicle is known on the digital map. For recording the ambient information, the vehicle is navigated along a first route, for which the comparison of ambient information last carried out was longest ago in comparison with at least one further optional route.