Lane departure warning without lane lines
A lane departure warning system which uses at least one detection device, such as a stereo camera, to map the surrounding environment in three-dimensions, which provides for a determination of the distance of various objects in a given image obtained by the camera. With the information obtained by the camera, or cameras, additional data, such as the color of each pixel in an image, it is possible to identify which pixels in the image correspond to the road. Once the pixels that correspond to the road are identified, the width of the road is determined, as well as the position of the vehicle on the road. With the width of the road being known, the road is “virtually” divided into virtual lanes, and it is determined which of the virtual lanes the vehicle is travelling, and the vehicle is monitored to ensure that the vehicle remains within one of the virtual lanes.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a lane departure system, including:
at least one detection device mounted to a vehicle, the at least one detection device captures image data and detects objects in an environment around the vehicle and a width of a road based on the image data, the image being without any representation of lane markers or lines of the road;
a controller in electrical communication with the at least one detection device;
a warning device in electrical communication with the controller;
at least one virtual lane boundary generated by the controller based on the width of the road, the image data, the objects detected in the environment around the vehicle, and a direction of travel of the vehicle, the at least one virtual lane boundary being generated without any representation of lane markers or lines of the road in the image data; and
at least one virtual lane determined by the controller based on the at least one virtual lane boundary and located adjacent the at least one virtual lane boundary;
wherein as the vehicle traverses the road corresponding to the at least one virtual lane, the controller sends a command to the warning device to generate a warning when the at least one detection device has detected that the vehicle had moved within a proximity limit of the road corresponding to the at least one virtual lane boundary.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the controller further comprising an autonomous driving vehicle controller.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , the at least one virtual lane boundary further comprising a plurality of virtual lane boundaries.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein a first of the plurality of virtual lane boundaries is located on one side of the at least one virtual lane, and a second of the plurality of virtual lane boundaries is located on an opposite side of the at least one virtual lane as the first of the plurality of virtual lane boundaries.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , the at least one virtual lane further comprising a plurality of virtual lanes.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein a first of the plurality of virtual lanes is disposed on one side of the virtual lane boundary, and a second of the plurality of virtual lanes is disposed on an opposite side of the virtual lane boundary as the first of the plurality of virtual lanes.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , the warning further comprising at least one of a haptic, visual, or audible warning.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the proximity limit is a predefined distance away from the at least one virtual lane.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , the at least one detection device further comprising a stereo camera.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one detection device comprises a stereo camera and is configured to construct a V-disparity image from the image data, estimate a plane based on the V-disparity image, identify pixels corresponding to the road and determine the width of the road based upon the identified pixels corresponding to the road.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one virtual lane is inferred from the at least one virtual lane boundary.
12. A lane departure warning system, comprising:
at least one detection device connected to a vehicle, the at least one detection device operable for generating image data and detecting objects around the vehicle and a width of a road based on the image data, the image data being without representations of lane markers and lines of the road;
a controller in electrical communication with the at least one detection device;
at least one virtual lane boundary generated by the controller based on the detected width of the road, the image data and a direction of travel of the vehicle on the road, the at least one virtual lane boundary being generated without any representation of lane markers or lines of the road in the image data;
a plurality of virtual lanes based on the at least one virtual lane boundary, the at least one virtual lane boundary divides the road into the plurality of virtual lanes, such that at least one of the plurality of virtual lanes is located adjacent the at least one virtual lane boundary;
wherein the vehicle traverses one of the plurality of virtual lanes, and the controller commands a warning device to generate a warning when the at least one detection device has detected that the vehicle has moved within a proximity limit of the at least one virtual lane boundary.
13. The lane departure warning system of claim 12 , the at least one virtual lane boundary further comprising a plurality of virtual lane boundaries.
14. The lane departure warning system of claim 13 , wherein each one of the plurality of virtual lane boundaries is disposed between and divides two of the plurality of virtual lanes.
15. The lane departure warning system of claim 12 , the warning further comprising at least one of a haptic, visual, or audible warning.
16. The lane departure warning system of claim 12 , wherein the proximity limit is a predefined distance away from the at least one virtual lane boundary.
17. The lane departure warning system of claim 12 , the controller further comprising an autonomous driving vehicle controller.
18. The lane departure warning system of claim 12 , the at least one detection device further comprising a stereo camera.
19. The lane departure warning system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one detection device comprises a stereo camera and is configured to construct a V-disparity image from the image data, estimate a plane based on the V-disparity image, identify pixels corresponding to the road and determine the width of the road based upon the identified pixels corresponding to the road.