Side-Mounted Camera Lane-Keeping Under Obscured Lane Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in maintaining lane position due to obscured lane lines caused by high traffic, featureless environments, and reflective conditions, which affect the accuracy of lane detection using front-facing cameras and LiDAR.
Innovation Solution
Equipping autonomous vehicles with side-mounted cameras on opposite sides, coupled to the side-view mirrors, to capture images of lane lines, processed by a processor using a machine learning model to generate a two-dimensional model for precise lane-keeping, even in challenging conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If front-facing cameras and LiDAR are used for lane detection, then the system can operate with a conventional sensor configuration, but lane line detection accuracy deteriorates in high-traffic, featureless, and reflective environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from front-facing camera detection to side-mounted camera detection, changing the spatial dimension of observation. By mounting cameras on the side-view mirrors facing forward, the system captures lane lines from a lateral perspective that avoids obstruction by high-traffic vehicles directly ahead, thereby maintaining detection accuracy in environments where conventional front-facing detection fails
2Measurement precision
If side-mounted cameras are added to improve lane detection in challenging conditions, then lane-keeping accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repurposes the side-view mirror structure to serve dual functions: traditional side viewing and forward lane detection. By mounting cameras on the existing side-view mirrors, the system leverages an already-present structural component, avoiding the need for separate dedicated mounting structures and reducing overall system complexity despite adding detection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The side-mounted cameras on side-view mirrors serve themselves by utilizing the mirror's existing position and orientation to capture forward-facing lane information. The camera's location on the side-view mirror automatically provides the optimal viewing angle for detecting lane lines without requiring additional adjustment mechanisms or complex positioning systems
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle can include a first camera on a first side of the vehicle and a second camera on a second side of the vehicle opposite the first side of the vehicle. The vehicle can include a processor communicatively coupled with the first camera and the second camera. The processor can be configured to receive a first image of a first lane line on a road in which the vehicle is driving from the first camera and a second image of a second lane line on the road from the second camera; detect the first lane line from the first image and the second lane line from the second image; determine a first location of the first lane line relative to a defined location of the vehicle and a second location of the second lane line relative to the defined location of the vehicle; and execute a correction sequence.