Vehicle Navigation Lateral Offset Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle navigation systems face challenges in achieving high positional accuracy, particularly in determining the specific lane a vehicle is in and providing reliable collision avoidance, due to limitations in both digital map detail and on-board position determination systems, which often result in errors of several meters.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a system that uses a combination of absolute and relative coordinates, incorporating sensors like GPS, inertial navigation, cameras, and RFID tags, along with object-based map matching, to accurately determine a vehicle's position relative to surrounding objects and other vehicles, enabling precise lane identification and collision avoidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional GPS and map matching systems are used, then the system is simple and cost-effective, but positional accuracy deteriorates to several meters error
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple positioning systems (GPS absolute positioning, inertial navigation dead-reckoning, and map matching) into an integrated system that fuses data from all sources to achieve centimeter-level accuracy, overcoming the limitations of each individual system
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces lateral offset as an intermediary parameter that bridges absolute GPS coordinates and relative vehicle position, enabling precise lane-level positioning by calculating the perpendicular distance from the vehicle to the road centerline rather than relying solely on raw coordinate data
2Measurement precision
If map detail and accuracy are increased to support advanced applications, then navigation precision improves, but data processing requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential lateral offset information from complex map data and vehicle sensor data, focusing computation on calculating the perpendicular distance to the road centerline rather than processing complete spatial coordinates, thereby reducing computational burden while maintaining precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the positioning problem from two-dimensional coordinate matching (x,y coordinates) to a one-dimensional lateral offset calculation, simplifying the computational complexity by reducing the dimensionality of the problem while achieving the same positioning objective
3Measurement precision
If absolute positioning systems like GPS are used, then global position determination is achieved, but local precision deteriorates due to signal errors and multipath effects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system continuously compares GPS-derived position with map-matched position and inertial navigation data, using the discrepancies to correct GPS errors and maintain accurate positioning even when GPS signal quality degrades
Data Source
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AI summary
A navigation system for use in a vehicle (402). The system includes an absolute position sensor, such as GPS, in addition to one or more additional sensors, such as a camera, laser scanner, or radar. The system further comprises a digital map or database that includes records for at least some of the vehicle's surrounding objects (400). These records can include relative positional attributes with respect to a reference axis (404). As the vehicle (402) moves, sensors sense the presence of at least some of these objects (400), and measure the vehicle's relative position to those objects. This information is used to determine the vehicle's instantaneous lateral offset (428) relative to the reference axis (404), and support features such as enhanced driving directions, collision avoidance, or automatic assisted driving. The system also allows new objects (408, 414) to be attributed using relative positioning, and thereby factored into the enhanced navigation features.