Digital Road Map Matching with Semantic Object Filtering

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for matching digital road maps to digital reference maps are inefficient due to misassociations between objects with different semantic information, leading to inconsistent delta-pose hypotheses.

Innovation Solution

The method employs semantic and geometric information to associate only objects with the same information, using a branch-and-bound-based algorithm with a joint compatibility test to ensure efficient matching, and employs a KD tree for nearest neighbor searches to optimize the process.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If semantic information is used to associate objects between road maps, then matching accuracy is improved, but computational complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvematching accuracyVSAvoidcomputational complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by performing semantic filtering and geometric pre-matching before the main association process. Objects are pre-grouped by semantic category and geometric properties, which reduces the search space for subsequent matching operations. This preliminary organization enables accurate semantic-based matching while reducing computational complexity by avoiding exhaustive comparisons across all object pairs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If all object pairs are evaluated for association, then completeness of matching is improved, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompleteness of matchingVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the matching process into distinct stages: semantic filtering, geometric pre-matching, and final association evaluation. This segmentation allows the system to quickly eliminate incompatible object pairs through semantic and geometric filters before performing detailed association analysis, thereby maintaining completeness while reducing overall processing time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements partial action by evaluating only those object pairs that pass the semantic and geometric pre-filters, rather than evaluating all possible pairs. This selective evaluation approach maintains matching completeness for valid pairs while significantly reducing processing time by skipping obviously incompatible pairs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Measurement precision

If semantic filtering is applied to restrict object associations, then matching quality is improved, but the number of valid associations decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvematching qualityVSAvoidnumber of valid associations
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the strictness of semantic filtering based on the matching context and confidence levels. The system can modify semantic matching thresholds and geometric tolerance parameters to balance matching quality with the number of valid associations, allowing flexible adaptation to different operational requirements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS12405130B2Method for matching a digital road map
Publication Date: 2025.09.02 ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
  • US12405130B2 patent drawing
  • US12405130B2 patent drawing
  • US12405130B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A method for matching a digital road map to a digital reference road map, wherein the two road maps in each case include semantic information about objects represented on the two road maps. The method includes: associating objects on the road map with objects on the reference road map on the basis of the respective semantic information such that only objects with the same semantic information are associated with one another; matching the road map to the reference road map on the basis of the association, wherein the matching comprises creating a delta pose between the road map and the reference road map. A device, a computer program, and a machine-readable storage medium are also described.