Navigation Map Data for Vehicle Access Ramp Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing road vehicles face challenges in assisting passengers with mobility impairments or those carrying objects, as there is often a height difference between the vehicle door and the road surface, which can be difficult to overcome without in-vehicle ramps or other aids.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that utilize sensor data to identify natural ramp structures in the road infrastructure, such as bus stops or pedestrian platforms, and generate map data indicating these structures, allowing passengers to use these natural ramps as entry and exit aids without the need for in-vehicle solutions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If in-vehicle ramps or entry aids are installed, then passenger accessibility is improved, but vehicle packaging space is reduced and hardware costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces map data as an intermediary information layer that mediates between the vehicle and the road infrastructure. The map data contains information about natural ramps and accessible entry points in the surrounding environment, allowing the vehicle to navigate to locations where the road infrastructure itself provides entry assistance, rather than requiring physical aids inside the vehicle.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution enables the road infrastructure to serve itself for accessibility purposes. By identifying and navigating to natural ramps, bus stops, or accessible parking areas that already exist in the environment, the system leverages the self-service capability of the surrounding infrastructure to provide passenger entry assistance without requiring the vehicle to carry or deploy additional hardware.
2Ease of operation
If in-vehicle ramps are deployed, then passenger entry assistance is provided, but device complexity and hardware implementation requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of physical ramps and entry aids with an information-based system. Instead of using mechanical structures to bridge the height difference, the system uses sensor data processing, map data generation, and navigation algorithms to identify and guide the vehicle to locations where natural ramps provide the necessary assistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy or representation of the physical ramp structures through map data. By capturing and storing information about natural ramps, bus stops, and accessible entry points in the environment, the system creates an informational model that can be queried and used for navigation, replacing the need for physical copies of ramp mechanisms in the vehicle.
3Volume of moving object
If natural ramps are identified through sensor data analysis, then in-vehicle aids become unnecessary, but data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-processing and storing ramp structure information in map data before the vehicle needs it. Sensor data from the environment is captured, analyzed, and stored in advance, creating a ready-to-use database of natural ramps and accessible entry points that can be quickly queried during vehicle operation without requiring intensive real-time processing.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a method for providing map data for road vehicle navigation. The method includes receiving sensor data including sensor acquisition of a road infrastructure. Furthermore, the method includes analyzing the sensor data to identify at least one ramp structure present in the road infrastructure and configured to potentially serve for a passenger as an entry and/or exit aid into or out of a road vehicle. Furthermore, the method includes generating the map data indicating the at least one ramp structure identified. Furthermore, there is provided method using those map data, and corresponding apparatuses, system, and computer program.