Determining a position of a vehicle on a track

1. An apparatus for determining a position of a vehicle on a track, the apparatus comprising:

a storage medium configured to store a map of the track comprising a representation of one or more features of the track and to store a position of the vehicle on the map;

input circuitry configured to receive, from a camera attached to the vehicle, a plurality of images captured by the camera as the vehicle travels along the track; and

processor circuitry configured to, for at least one of the plurality of captured images:

(i) perform feature recognition on the image,

(ii) assign an indicator to at least one recognised feature in the image indicative of a suitability of the at least one recognised feature for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the recognised feature, and

(iii) for each recognised feature in the image with the indicator which indicates that the recognised feature is suitable for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the recognised feature:

(a) when the recognised feature is already represented in the map of the track, adjust the position of the vehicle on the map based on the position of the representation of the recognised feature in the map, and

(b) when the recognised feature is not already represented in the map of the track, add a representation of the recognised feature to the map as the vehicle travels along the track.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, when the recognised feature with the indicator which indicates that the recognised feature is suitable for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the recognised feature is already represented in the map of the track, the representation of the recognised feature in the map of the track is adjusted based on the recognised feature.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the indicator indicative of the suitability of the at least one recognised feature in the at least one of the plurality of images is determined based on a consistency of an appearance of the at least one recognised feature in two or more of the plurality of images, wherein a greater consistency in the appearance of the at least one recognised feature in the two or more of the plurality of images is associated with an indicator indicative of a greater suitability of the recognised feature for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the at least one recognised feature, and wherein a lesser consistency in the appearance of the at least one recognised feature in the two or more of the plurality of images is associated with an indicator indicative of a lesser suitability of the at least one recognised feature for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the at least one recognised feature.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the storage medium is further configured to store a position of another vehicle on the track on the map,

the processor circuitry is further configured to:

determine whether a recognised feature in the at least one of the plurality of captured images is the other vehicle on the track;

when the recognised feature is determined as the other vehicle on the track, adjust the position of the vehicle on the map based on the position of the other vehicle on the map.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry is configured to:

determine whether a recognised feature in the at least one of the plurality of captured images is another vehicle on the track;

when the recognised feature is determined as the other vehicle on the track, determine the position of a representation of the other vehicle on the map based on the position of the other vehicle in the at least one captured image.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein

the storage medium is further configured to store a position of each of a plurality of other vehicles on the track on the map,

the processor circuitry is operable to identify which of the plurality of other vehicles on the track is the other vehicle which is recognised as a feature in the at least one of the plurality of captured images based on the position of the vehicle on the map.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the position of the vehicle on the map is further adjusted based on additional information to the stored map of the track.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the additional information comprises global navigation satellite system (GNSS) coordinates indicative of the position of the vehicle.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the additional information comprises timing loop information indicative of a time at which the vehicle is positioned at a predetermined position on the track.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the additional information comprises information output by an accelerometer or gravitometer attached to the vehicle.

11. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the additional information comprises an expected motion characteristic of the vehicle over a predetermined portion of the track.

12. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the additional information comprises one or more of a fuel load, a vehicle load, and tire pressure information.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the processor circuitry is configured to:

adjust, based on a recognised feature in each of a predetermined number of the plurality of captured images captured as the vehicle travels over the predetermined portion of the track and the expected motion characteristic of the vehicle over the predetermined portion of the track, the position of the camera relative to the position of the vehicle; and

adjust the position of the vehicle on the map based on the adjusted position of the camera relative to the position of the vehicle.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising output circuitry configured to output the adjusted position of the vehicle on the map to a display device for displaying an image representative of one or more features of the map and an image representative of the position of the vehicle on the map.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the display device is one of (i) a remote display device to which the images representative of one or more features of the map the position of the vehicle on the map are broadcast, (ii) a display device located at the track, and (iii) a display device located within the vehicle.

16. A method of determining a position of a vehicle on a track, the method comprising:

storing a map of the track comprising a representation of one or more features of the track and storing a position of the vehicle on the map;

receiving, from a camera attached to the vehicle, a plurality of images captured by the camera as the vehicle travels along the track; and

for at least one of the plurality of captured images:

(i) performing feature recognition on the image,

(ii) assigning an indicator to at least one recognised feature in the image indicative of a suitability of the at least one recognised feature for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the recognised feature, and

(iii) for each recognised feature in the image with an indicator which indicates that the recognised feature is suitable for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the recognised feature:

(a) when the recognised feature is already represented in the map of the track, adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the position of the representation of the recognised feature in the map, and

(b) when the recognised feature is not already represented in the map of the track, adding a representation of the recognised feature to the map as the vehicle travels along the track.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to execute comprising:

storing a map of the track comprising a representation of one or more features of the track and storing a position of the vehicle on the map;

receiving, from a camera attached to the vehicle, a plurality of images captured by the camera as the vehicle travels along the track; and

for at least one of the plurality of captured images:

(i) performing feature recognition on the image,

(ii) assigning an indicator to at least one recognised feature in the image indicative of a suitability of the at least one recognised feature for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the recognised feature, and

(iii) for each recognised feature in the image with an indicator which indicates that the recognised feature is suitable for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the recognised feature:

(a) when the recognised feature is already represented in the map of the track, adjusting the position of the vehicle on the map based on the position of the representation of the recognised feature in the map, and

(b) when the recognised feature is not already represented in the map of the track, adding a representation of the recognised feature to the map as the vehicle travels along the track.