Position Estimation Using GPS Reliability Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for estimating the positions of surrounding objects using inexpensive sensors on mobile bodies, such as vehicles, face challenges due to GPS inaccuracies, vehicle speed, and environmental obstructions, leading to systematic errors and reduced estimation accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A position estimation method that involves estimating multiple position candidates based on sensor information and position information, evaluating these candidates for errors caused by GPS satellite positions, mobile body positions, or other factors, and determining a final output by removing candidates with errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If LIDAR is used to estimate positions of surrounding objects, then measurement precision is improved, but device cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive LIDAR with inexpensive camera sensors to achieve position estimation. Multiple images are captured and processed through triangulation to compensate for the lower precision of individual cheap sensors, ultimately achieving comparable accuracy to LIDAR without the high cost.
2Ease of manufacture
If triangulation is performed using camera images and GPS trajectory, then device cost is reduced, but measurement precision deteriorates due to GPS errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a reliability evaluation mechanism that assesses GPS quality (e.g., HDOP values) and selectively processes triangulation results based on GPS reliability. When GPS quality is poor, the system identifies and excludes affected position estimates, preventing error propagation and maintaining overall precision despite using inexpensive sensors.
3Reliability
If statistical processing is applied to triangulation results, then reliability of final output is improved, but systematic errors from GPS and sensor limitations are not eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary evaluation of triangulation result reliability before final statistical processing. By assessing the quality of input data (image pairs, GPS trajectories) and identifying potential errors in advance, the system filters out unreliable measurements prior to aggregation, ensuring that statistical processing operates on high-quality data and achieves both reliability and precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A position estimation unit 25 estimates, for each movement in a predetermined section, a plurality of position candidates of a position estimation target on the basis of position information and sensor information. A position determination unit 26 evaluates, for each movement in the predetermined section, on the basis of the plurality of position candidates of the position estimation target obtained by the movement in the predetermined section, whether the position information used to estimate the position candidates has an error caused by any of a position of a GPS satellite, a position of a mobile body in a real space, or the mobile body or does not have any error caused thereby. The position determination unit 26 determines a final output value of the position of the position estimation target on the basis of a result obtained by removing, from the plurality of estimated position candidates of the position estimation target in the plurality of times of the movement in the predetermined section, a position candidate of the position estimation target estimated in the movement in the predetermined section that has been evaluated to have the error.