Vehicle Queue Length Detection Using Pre-Green Position Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for detecting vehicle queue length at road intersections involve high detection costs, low accuracy, and poor efficiency due to the need for vehicle detectors on the road.

Innovation Solution

Determine vehicle queue length based on vehicle information, including position and speed, collected before a traffic light turns green, without using vehicle detectors, allowing for high accuracy and real-time performance at a lower cost.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If vehicle detectors are arranged on the road to detect lane occupancy status, then vehicle queue length can be determined, but detection cost increases and detection accuracy decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle queue length detection accuracyVSAvoiddetection system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses satellite positioning data as an intermediary to indirectly determine vehicle queue length. Instead of directly detecting vehicle presence with road-based sensors, the system processes positioning information from vehicles themselves to infer queue status, thereby reducing the need for complex physical detection infrastructure while maintaining measurement accuracy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical detection system (physical vehicle detectors on the road) with an information-processing system that uses satellite positioning data. This substitution eliminates the need for complex hardware installation and maintenance while improving detection accuracy through precise position calculations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Productivity

If vehicle detectors are arranged on the road to detect lane occupancy status, then vehicle queue length can be determined, but detection efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection efficiencyVSAvoidtime for queue length determination
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary processing of satellite positioning data to identify vehicles in the detection area before the traffic light cycle ends. By pre-calculating vehicle positions and determining queue length in advance, the system reduces the time needed for final determination and improves overall detection efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously receives and processes satellite positioning data from vehicles, creating a feedback loop that updates queue length information in real-time. This continuous feedback mechanism allows for efficient, real-time determination of vehicle queue length without requiring complex real-time detection infrastructure

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3822941B1Method and apparatus for detecting vehicle queue length
Publication Date: 2025.10.29 APOLLO INTELLIGENT CONNECTIVITY (BEIJING) TECH CO LTD
  • EP3822941B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3822941B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP3822941B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

The present disclosure discloses a method and an apparatus for detecting a vehicle queue length. The method includes: when determining that a traffic light turns green, obtaining vehicle information of each vehicle on a lane section to be detected in a first preset time period before a time point when the traffic light turns green; determining at least one vehicle that has a static position and a static time point on the lane section to be detected; determining a first queuing vehicle and a last queuing vehicle on the lane section to be detected based on the at least one vehicle; and determining a vehicle queue length on the lane section to be detected based on a position of the first queuing vehicle and a position of the last queuing vehicle. Consequently, the vehicle queue length may be determined with high accuracy, high real-time performance and low cost.