IP Library Granted Patent US 11,195,033
Granted Patent B2
US 11,195,033 · App. 16/803,829 · Granted Dec 7, 2021

Multi-modal, multi-technique vehicle signal detection

Inventors: Clement Creusot (San Francisco, CA); Divya Thuremella (San Francisco, CA); Na Yu (San Jose, CA); Jia Pu (Mountain View, CA)
Assignee: GM Cruise Holdings LLC
G06K9/00825B60W30/09G06K9/00208G06K9/00805G06K9/3233G06K9/4652G06K9/6267G06K9/6288G08G1/166
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,195,033
App. No.
16/803,829
Granted
Dec 7, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A vehicle includes one or more cameras that capture a plurality of two-dimensional images of a three-dimensional object. A light detector and/or a semantic classifier search within those images for lights of the three-dimensional object. A vehicle signal detection module fuses information from the light detector and/or the semantic classifier to produce a semantic meaning for the lights. The vehicle can be controlled based on the semantic meaning. Further, the vehicle can include a depth sensor and an object projector. The object projector can determine regions of interest within the two-dimensional images, based on the depth sensor. The light detector and/or the semantic classifier can use these regions of interest to efficiently perform the search for the lights.

Claims (54)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a two-dimensional image of a first three-dimensional object from a camera, wherein the first three-dimensional object is a vehicle;

receiving a first signal indicating first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object;

receiving a second signal indicating second three-dimensional coordinates of a second three-dimensional object;

projecting the first three-dimensional coordinates onto the two-dimensional image;

determining a portion of the first three-dimensional object is occluded in the two-dimensional image by the second three-dimensional object, based on the first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object, and the second three-dimensional coordinates of the second three-dimensional object;

determining a region of interest in the two-dimensional image based on the projection; and

searching for a vehicle signal light of the first three-dimensional object within the region of interest.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein projecting the first three-dimensional coordinates onto the two-dimensional image comprises applying a matrix transformation to the first three-dimensional coordinates.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

controlling a vehicle, based on the vehicle signal light of the first three-dimensional object, wherein the controlling is accelerating, braking, or steering the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining the portion of the first three-dimensional object is occluded, applying a mask to the two-dimensional image to remove pixels not associated with regions where vehicle signal lights would be present.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein projecting the first three-dimensional coordinates comprises projecting a surface of a three-dimensional polygon corresponding to the first three-dimensional object.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first signal indicating the first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object includes three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of surfaces of the first three-dimensional object, and the region of interest is determined based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of surfaces of the first three-dimensional object.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

cropping the two-dimensional image to the region of interest to produce a cropped image, wherein the searching is performed on the cropped image.

8. One or more non-transitory, computer-readable media encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more processing units, perform a method comprising:

receiving a two-dimensional image of a first three-dimensional object from a camera, wherein the first three-dimensional object is a vehicle;

receiving a first signal indicating first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object;

receiving a second signal indicating second three-dimensional coordinates of a second three-dimensional object;

projecting the first three-dimensional coordinates onto the two-dimensional image;

determining a portion of the first three-dimensional object is occluded in the two-dimensional image by the second three-dimensional object, based on the first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object, and the second three-dimensional coordinates of the second three-dimensional object;

determining a region of interest in the two-dimensional image based on the projection; and

searching for a vehicle signal light of the first three-dimensional object within the region of interest.

9. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein projecting the first three-dimensional coordinates onto the two-dimensional image comprises applying a matrix transformation to the first three-dimensional coordinates.

10. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8 , the method further comprising:

controlling a vehicle, based on the vehicle signal light of the first three-dimensional object, wherein the controlling is accelerating, braking, or steering the vehicle.

11. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8 , the method further comprising:

in response to determining the portion of the first three-dimensional object is occluded, applying a mask to the two-dimensional image to remove pixels not associated with the first three-dimensional object.

12. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein projecting the first three-dimensional coordinates comprises projecting a surface of a three-dimensional polygon corresponding to the first three-dimensional object.

13. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein the first signal indicating the first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object includes three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of surfaces of the first three-dimensional object, and the region of interest is determined based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of surfaces of the first three-dimensional object.

14. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8 , the method further comprising:

cropping the two-dimensional image to the region of interest to produce a cropped image, wherein the searching is performed on the cropped image.

15. A system, comprising:

a memory including instructions;

a processor to execute the instructions; and

an object projector, encoded in the instructions, to:

receive a two-dimensional image of a first three-dimensional object from a camera, wherein the first three-dimensional object is a vehicle;

receive a first signal indicating first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object;

receive a second signal indicating second three-dimensional coordinates of a second three-dimensional object;

project the first three-dimensional coordinates onto the two-dimensional image;

determine a portion of the first three-dimensional object is occluded in the two-dimensional image by the second three-dimensional object, based on the first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object, and the second three-dimensional coordinates of the second three-dimensional object; and

determine a region of interest in the two-dimensional image based on the projection; and

a vehicle signal detector, encoded in the instructions, to:

search for a vehicle signal light of the first three-dimensional object within the region of interest.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle signal detector further is to:

skip light detection in the portion of the first three-dimensional object in the two-dimensional image occluded by the second three-dimensional object.

17. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:

a vehicle control system to accelerate, brake, or steer a vehicle, based on the vehicle signal light of the first three-dimensional object.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle signal detector further is to:

in response to determining the portion of the first three-dimensional object is occluded, determine any lights within the portion of the first three-dimensional object in the two-dimensional image occluded by the second three-dimensional object do not belong to the first three-dimensional object.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein projecting the first three-dimensional coordinates comprises projecting a surface of a three-dimensional polygon corresponding to the first three-dimensional object.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first signal indicating the first three-dimensional coordinates of the first three-dimensional object includes three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of surfaces of the first three-dimensional object, and the region of interest is determined based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of surfaces of the first three-dimensional object.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 27, 2020
From: CREUSOT, CLEMENT; THUREMELLA, DIVYA; YU, NA; PU, JIA
To: GM CRUISE HOLDINGS LLC
Reel/Frame 051956/0520 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210271905A1 · Sep 2, 2021