Vehicle Trajectory Estimation Using Free Space Corridors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) lack integrated longitudinal and lateral control, leading to understeering when adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance are activated simultaneously, and existing trajectory planning methods are computationally intensive due to the need for large occupancy grids, especially on curved roads.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize vehicle state sensors and environment sensors to determine a free space corridor and estimate a reference trajectory, minimizing deviations through optimal control parameters, with a focus on reducing computational effort by representing the corridor using geometrical elements like arcs and straight lines, and employing backup goal points to ensure safety and reduce computational load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance are activated simultaneously, then speed control and lateral control are provided, but the vehicle becomes understeered in longitudinal and lateral directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance into a unified trajectory planning system that synchronously controls both longitudinal and lateral directions, preventing the understeering problem that occurs when these systems operate independently
Solution Approach 2:
The trajectory planning system serves multiple functions simultaneously - it provides both speed control (longitudinal) and steering control (lateral), replacing the need for separate control systems and enabling integrated vehicle guidance
2Reliability
If occupancy grid technique is used to determine collision free space, then collision-free trajectory is guaranteed, but computational effort increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential free space corridor information needed for trajectory planning from the environment, rather than processing the complete occupancy grid. This selective extraction maintains collision-free guarantees while dramatically reducing computational requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The free space corridor acts as an intermediary representation between the complete occupancy grid and the trajectory planning algorithm. It simplifies the complex grid data into a manageable corridor definition that preserves safety information while enabling efficient computation
3Reliability
If occupancy grid size is increased to guarantee collision-free space on curved roads, then safety is improved, but computational effort and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the relevant free space corridor information along the vehicle's path rather than processing the entire large occupancy grid. This selective approach maintains safety on curved roads while avoiding the computational burden of processing all grid cells
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of uniformly processing the entire occupancy grid, the patent focuses computational resources on the local free space corridor that is directly relevant to the vehicle's trajectory, applying detailed analysis only where needed for safety
Data Source
AI summary
A system for estimating a trajectory of a vehicle includes vehicle state sensors detecting a state of movement of the vehicle and environment sensors monitoring an environment of the vehicle. A free space module determines a free space corridor based on the detected state of movement of the vehicle and the monitored environment of the vehicle. A goal point determination module determines at least one goal point for the trajectory to be estimated based on the free space corridor. A trajectory planning module estimates a reference trajectory based on the at least one goal point and calculates a deviation between an actual trajectory and the reference trajectory of the vehicle. A trajectory control module minimizes the deviation between the actual trajectory and the reference trajectory of the vehicle and outputs optimal control parameters for the movement of the vehicle based on the minimized deviation.