Multi-Sensor Lane Determination with Voting Logic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing driver assist systems for vehicles lack a reliable method to determine lanes with high precision, which can lead to unsafe navigation and reduced driving safety due to the reliance on single sensors and limited data sources.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing at least two independent sensors to gather data from multiple surrounding areas, combining this data to determine a resulting lane through a cascaded process, where non-identical lanes are excluded, and incorporating weighting values based on traffic situations to prioritize lane determination accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple independent sensors are used to determine lanes, then lane determination precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the lane determination task into multiple independent sensor units, each capturing data from different surrounding areas. By segmenting the detection function across multiple sensors (e.g., front, rear, left, right sensors), the system achieves comprehensive lane detection while maintaining modular architecture that manages complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines data from multiple independent sensors through a cascaded evaluation process. The computing device integrates lane determination results from various sensors, using a voting mechanism where lanes identified by multiple sensors are confirmed, resolving the contradiction by merging sensor inputs to achieve high precision without proportional complexity increase.
2Reliability
If data from multiple surrounding areas is processed, then driving safety is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary lane determination independently at each sensor location before combining results. Each sensor pre-processes its local area data to identify potential lanes, and only then are these preliminary results combined through the cascaded evaluation. This preliminary action at distributed points reduces the time burden of processing all data centrally while maintaining comprehensive safety analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a voting mechanism where a lane is confirmed when identified by a threshold number of sensors (e.g., 2 out of 3). This partial action approach means the system doesn't require complete consensus from all sensors, allowing faster determination while still achieving high reliability through majority validation, thus balancing safety with time efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for determining a lane on a roadway for a vehicle having at least two independent sensors includes the steps of obtaining with a first sensor data for a first area surrounding the vehicle, obtaining with at least two additional sensors data for at least two additional areas surrounding the vehicle, determining a first lane based on the data for the first area, determining at least two additional lanes based on the data for the at least two additional areas, and determining a resulting lane from the first and the at least two additional lanes, wherein when two of the least three lanes are identical and a third of the at least three lanes is not identical with the two identical lanes, the third lane is not taken into account when determining the resulting lane.