Vehicle Route Determination Using Reference Points

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing satellite tolling systems face challenges in accurately determining vehicle routes, particularly in urban environments where roads are close together, leading to potential errors and increased computational load due to the need for precise gantry dimensions and reliance on filtered geographical positions.

Innovation Solution

An apparatus and method that select reference points based on significant events such as speed changes and direction variations, determining admissible road route sections only for these points, and concatenating them to identify the most probable route, reducing computational load and improving accuracy by considering all geographical positions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the width of gantries is increased to reduce the risk of not detecting vehicle passage, then detection reliability is improved, but interference with other nearby roads or motorways increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection reliabilityVSAvoidinterference with other roads
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the road monitoring area into multiple gantries with different widths. Gantries closer to the road have smaller widths, while those farther away have larger widths. This segmentation allows each gantry to be optimized for its specific position, reducing interference with nearby roads while maintaining detection reliability through the distributed array of gantries.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by assigning different gantry widths based on their specific locations. Gantries positioned closer to the monitored road use narrower widths to avoid interfering with adjacent roads, while gantries positioned farther away use wider widths to ensure adequate detection coverage. This localized optimization resolves the contradiction between detection reliability and interference prevention.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Measurement precision

If all geographical positions are used for route determination, then measurement precision is improved, but computational load increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveroute determination accuracyVSAvoidcomputational load
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and uses only the essential geographical positions (those corresponding to significant events like stopping, restarting, and turning) for route determination, rather than processing all recorded positions. This extraction approach maintains route determination accuracy by focusing on critical decision points while significantly reducing the computational load associated with processing redundant position data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If gantry width is reduced to avoid interference with other roads, then interference with nearby roads is reduced, but the probability of failed detection increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinterference with other roadsVSAvoiddetection reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent compensates for reduced individual gantry widths by segmenting the monitoring area into multiple gantries positioned at different locations and distances from the road. The combined coverage of these segmented gantries maintains overall detection reliability while each individual gantry uses a narrower width appropriate to its position, avoiding interference with adjacent roads.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3745089B1Apparatus and method for determining the road route of a vehicle based on data indicating its geographical position
Publication Date: 2023.08.02 MOVYON
  • EP3745089B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3745089B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3745089B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

An apparatus for determining the road route of a vehicle is described. The apparatus receives from a vehicle's on-board device data indicative of a sequence of vehicle geographical positions. From this sequence, the apparatus selects a set of reference points at which significant events relating to the travel occurred, such as stopping, restarting and turnings. For each pair of consecutive reference points, the admissible road route section(s) are determined according to the topology of the road network. Possible road routes between first and last reference points are then determined by concatenating admissible road route sections. Finally, the most probable road route is identified amongst the possible road routes, based on values of a parameter indicating the probability that the vehicle actually followed a possible road route. Each value of this parameter is obtained by comparing the original sequence of geographical positions with one of the possible road routes.