Vehicle Target Selection Using Trajectory Similarity Filtering

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current target selection methods for vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or autonomous driving are computationally intensive and lack an efficient approach to differentiate between road users based on their impact on the vehicle's trajectory, relying on rule-based systems that are not adaptable to various driving behaviors.

Innovation Solution

A computer-implemented method that predicts vehicle and road user trajectories using dynamic and static information, performs similarity comparisons to determine potential targets, and adjusts relevance thresholds to reduce computational load and improve target selection accuracy, employing machine-learning algorithms like convolutional neural networks and recurrent neural networks for context-aware scene prediction.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If traditional rule-based target selection is used, then target selection can be performed for different applications, but computational resources are excessively consumed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetarget selection efficiencyVSAvoidcomputational power consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the parameter of target selection from rule-based to similarity-based comparison. It introduces a similarity threshold parameter that dynamically filters potential targets by comparing their trajectories with the ego-vehicle's trajectory, thereby reducing the number of targets requiring further processing and lowering computational power consumption while maintaining selection accuracy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary trajectory prediction for all detected road users before applying the similarity comparison filter. This preliminary action of predicting trajectories in advance allows the system to efficiently identify and eliminate irrelevant targets using the similarity threshold, reducing the computational load on subsequent target selection processes

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If traditional rule-based target selection is used, then target selection can be performed for different applications, but the system lacks adaptability to various driving behaviors

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveadaptability to driving behaviorsVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces rigid rule-based parameters with a flexible similarity threshold parameter. This parameter can be dynamically adjusted based on driving scenarios, road user behaviors, and environmental conditions, enabling the system to adapt to various driving behaviors without requiring complex rule sets for each scenario

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent substitutes the mechanical rule-based system with a data-driven similarity comparison approach. Instead of following predefined rules for different driving scenarios, the system uses trajectory similarity metrics to automatically identify relevant targets, reducing system complexity while improving adaptability to unseen driving behaviors

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

3Reliability

If all detected road users are considered as potential targets, then no targets are missed, but computational load increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetarget detection completenessVSAvoidprocessing speed
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a similarity threshold parameter that filters potential targets based on their trajectory similarity to the ego-vehicle. This parameter change allows the system to quickly eliminate road users with dissimilar trajectories, maintaining reliability by preserving all potentially relevant targets while significantly improving processing speed through early filtering

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by performing full trajectory analysis only on road users that pass the similarity threshold filter. Instead of analyzing all detected road users in detail, the system performs a lightweight similarity check first, then applies comprehensive analysis only to the subset of potentially relevant targets, optimizing the balance between completeness and processing efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP4219259B1Method, computer system and non-transitory computer readable medium for target selection in the vicinity of a vehicle
Publication Date: 2024.09.11 APTIV TECHNOLOGIES AG
  • EP4219259B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4219259B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4219259B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Computer implemented method for target selection in the vicinity of a vehicle, comprising obtaining vehicle state information, the vehicle state information comprising dynamic information regarding the vehicle, predicting a first trajectory of the vehicle based on the vehicle state information for a first prediction time horizon, detecting road users in the vicinity of the vehicle, determining state information from the detected road users, the state information comprising dynamic information regarding the road users, predicting a second trajectory of the vehicle based on the vehicle state information and the road users state information for the first prediction time horizon and performing a first similarity comparison of the first predicted trajectory and the second predicted trajectory of the vehicle to determine whether the detected road users are a potential target of the vehicle for the first prediction time horizon.