Vehicle Lane Inference Control Without Visible Lane Markings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle control systems struggle to continue driving assistance or automated driving when lane markings are not recognized, leading to interruptions in partial or full autonomous driving.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control device and method that recognizes relative speed and distance between vehicles and uses map information to determine if an adjacent lane is an oncoming lane, adjusting driving assistance or automated driving levels accordingly, allowing continued operation even without visible lane markings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If lane marking recognition is used for driving assistance, then driving control can be maintained, but driving assistance cannot continue when lane markings are not recognized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces other vehicles as intermediary objects to infer lane information. When lane markings are not recognized, the system uses the positions and movements of other vehicles to estimate the own vehicle's lane and relative position, thereby maintaining driving assistance functionality without direct lane marking detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the optical/mechanical lane marking recognition system with a computational approach using sensor data from other vehicles. Instead of relying on visual detection of road markings, the system substitutes this with algorithmic inference based on relative positions and speeds of surrounding vehicles to determine lane information.
2Duration of action of moving object
If virtual lane marking estimation is used when lane markings are not detected, then partial driving assistance can continue, but the relative position in the lane cannot be specified accurately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous feedback by repeatedly measuring the relative positions and speeds of other vehicles, and using this feedback to continuously update the estimated lane position and virtual lane markings. This allows the system to maintain and refine its lane position estimation over time, improving accuracy while extending driving assistance duration.
3Duration of action of moving object
If driving assistance continues without lane marking recognition, then automated driving can be prolonged, but safety may be compromised without accurate lane position information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by continuously gathering and processing data from multiple other vehicles to pre-establish lane information before it becomes critically needed. The system proactively builds a model of the lane structure using surrounding vehicles as reference points, preparing lane position data in advance to ensure safety when lane markings are unavailable.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle control device of an embodiment recognizes that a first other lane is present at a position of a first other vehicle on the basis of a first relative distance between an own vehicle and the first other vehicle, recognizes an advancing direction of the first other lane on the basis of a first relative speed between the own vehicle and the first other vehicle, in a case where the recognized advancing direction of the first other lane is opposite to an advancing direction of an own lane, determines whether or not an adjacent lane of the own lane is an oncoming lane on the basis of at least two of the first relative distance, a second relative speed between the own vehicle and a second other vehicle, and map information including an advancing direction of a lane and the number of lanes, and in a case where it is determined that the adjacent lane is an oncoming lane, continues driving assistance or automated driving.