Maplets for Real-Time Digital Map Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital map systems for autonomous vehicles struggle to maintain accurate and up-to-date information about road networks in real-time, as they are often outdated and lack efficient methods for updating changes such as construction, obstructions, and traffic conditions.
Innovation Solution
A system that crowdsources data from sensors on vehicles to generate and transmit 'maplets' – standardized data packets containing abstracted representations of road features and vehicle trajectories – to a network apparatus, which updates the digital map efficiently and accurately, using a predetermined data model and format to reduce bandwidth usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If detailed sensor data from multiple vehicles is collected and transmitted to update digital maps, then map accuracy and real-time updating capability are improved, but network bandwidth consumption and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential and changed road features from comprehensive sensor data, creating condensed maplet representations that capture critical information while eliminating redundant data, thus reducing transmission bandwidth requirements while maintaining map accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms raw sensor data into standardized maplet parameters with predefined data models and formats, changing the parameter representation to be more compact and efficient for transmission, thereby reducing network bandwidth consumption while preserving essential map information
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive sensor data from multiple sources is processed to update digital maps, then map accuracy is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the map updating process into independent vehicle-specific processing units that generate individual maplets, allowing parallel processing of data from multiple vehicles simultaneously, thus reducing overall processing time while maintaining comprehensive map accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary processing of sensor data at each vehicle apparatus to create standardized maplets before transmission, pre-filtering and structuring data in advance to reduce the computational burden on central processing systems and accelerate overall map updating
3Loss of energy
If standardized data models and formats are used for maplets, then network bandwidth efficiency is improved, but system flexibility and adaptability to new road features decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The standardized maplet data model is designed with universal structures that can represent multiple types of road features and construction scenarios through common parameter fields, enabling the system to handle diverse road conditions while maintaining efficient standardized transmission formats
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus is onboard a vehicle and in communication with sensors onboard the vehicle. The apparatus receives a maplet request identifying a request region; and, responsive to determining that the vehicle is within the request region, processes sensor data captured by sensors to generate a multi-sensor data stream corresponding to a road network segment. The apparatus identifies an observation corresponding to a construction marker within the multi-sensor data stream; and generates a maplet based on the observation and the maplet request. Generating the maplet comprises using a predetermined data model and a predetermined data format corresponding to a construction marker observation class to encode road data corresponding to the observation corresponding to the construction marker. The apparatus provides the maplet such that a network apparatus receives the maplet. The network apparatus is configured to validate/update map data of a digital map representing the road network based on the maplet.