Vehicle Surroundings Positioning via Gesture-Based Image Recognition

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems for providing position data in a vehicle's surroundings often lack accuracy, making it difficult to describe specific locations, especially when traditional methods like street and house numbers are insufficient, and GPS signals may not be available.

Innovation Solution

The method employs an environmental sensor system to generate an image sequence, recognize a person's gesture, and identify points or areas within the sequence, generating position data that can be transmitted to a receiving device, allowing for precise location definition without requiring a separate position determination system.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If GPS or conventional navigation systems are used to determine position, then position data can be obtained, but the accuracy is insufficient to define precise locations such as parking spaces

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveposition accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines the environmental sensor system (camera) with the position determination function. Instead of using separate GPS equipment, the system merges image capture and position analysis into a single integrated approach, where the vehicle's existing camera records images and a computing unit extracts position data from these images, achieving high precision without additional complex positioning hardware

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces image data as an intermediary between the environment and position determination. Rather than directly measuring position with GPS, the system uses captured images as an intermediate representation, from which position coordinates are derived through image processing and feature recognition, enabling precise location definition without conventional positioning systems

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If environmental sensor systems are used to capture images and determine position, then position accuracy is improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveposition accuracyVSAvoidsensor system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent makes the environmental sensor system (camera) multi-functional by using it not only for its primary purpose (capturing images of surroundings) but also for position determination. The same camera that records environmental data is repurposed to extract position information, eliminating the need for separate positioning sensors and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high accuracy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses its own environmental sensor data to determine its position without requiring external positioning infrastructure. The vehicle's camera captures images that contain positional information, and the computing unit processes these self-generated images to extract position coordinates, making the system self-sufficient and avoiding dependence on GPS or other external positioning systems

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Ease of operation

If gesture recognition is used to identify location points, then ease of operation is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelocation specification easeVSAvoidgesture detection difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements feedback by displaying the recognized gesture and identified position back to the user through the user interface. The system processes the gesture, determines the position, and then presents this information to the user for verification, allowing the user to confirm or correct the interpretation. This feedback loop simplifies operation by making the system's understanding transparent and correctable

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3999811B1Provision and transmission of position data of the surroundings of a motor vehicle
Publication Date: 2024.08.21 VOLKSWAGEN AG
  • EP3999811B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3999811B1 patent drawingFigure 2

AI summary

In a method for providing position data of the surroundings of a motor vehicle (8), an environment sensor system (10) is used to generate an image sequence (13) of the surroundings. A computing unit (7) is used to recognise a gesture (14) of a person (15) within the surroundings on the basis of the image sequence (13). The computing unit (7) is used to identify a point or region (16) of the surroundings on the basis of the gesture (14) and to generate position data of the point or region (16). The position data are provided for transmission to a receiver (18) by means of a communication interface (9) of the motor vehicle (8).