Traffic signal management for autonomous vehicle operation
Systems and methods to perform traffic signal management for operation of autonomous vehicles involve obtaining vehicle data from two or more vehicles at an intersection with one or more traffic lights. The vehicle data includes vehicle location, vehicle speed, and image information or images. A method includes determining at least one of three types of information about the one or more traffic lights based on the vehicle data. The three types of information include a location of the one or more traffic lights, a signal phase and timing (SPaT) of the one or more traffic lights, and a lane correspondence of the one or more traffic lights. The method also includes providing the at least one of the three types of information about the one or more traffic lights for the operation of autonomous vehicles.
1. A method of performing traffic signal management for operation of autonomous vehicles, the method comprising:
obtaining, at a management system, vehicle data from two or more vehicles at an intersection with one or more traffic lights, the vehicle data including vehicle location, vehicle speed, and image information or images;
determining, at the management system, at least one of three types of information about the one or more traffic lights based on the vehicle data, the three types of information including a location of the one or more traffic lights, a signal phase and timing (SPaT) of the one or more traffic lights, and a lane correspondence of the one or more traffic lights, indicating which lane each of the one or more traffic lights corresponds with, based on the vehicle data from the two or more vehicles, wherein the determining the location of the one or more traffic lights includes determining a consensus between the location determined based on the two or more vehicles and additional information from one or more sources, and the determining the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights includes determining a consensus among the SPaT determined based on the two or more vehicles; and
providing, by the management system, the at least one of the three types of information about the one or more traffic lights for the operation of autonomous vehicles.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining the location of the one or more traffic lights includes using the image information or the images and using the vehicle location from the vehicle data obtained from the two or more vehicles at the intersection.
3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising obtaining, at the management system, the additional information from the one or more other sources, the additional information including a surveyed location of the one or more traffic lights and the one or more other sources including the two or more vehicles relaying a message from the intersection, a municipal traffic center information system, or a commercial traffic center information system.
4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising determining the consensus between the location of the one or more traffic lights determined using the vehicle data from the two or more vehicles at the intersection and the surveyed location obtained from the additional information using a standard deviation or a median absolute deviation.
5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising proceeding with the providing the location of the one or more traffic lights for the operation of autonomous vehicles based on the consensus being greater than a threshold consensus value, and increasing a number of the two or more vehicles from which to obtain the vehicle data based on the consensus being less than the threshold consensus value.
6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising obtaining SPaT observations for the one or more traffic lights from the two or more vehicles based on the image information or the images and determining, based on the consensus among the SPaT observations from the two or more vehicles being greater than a first threshold value, whether the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights is static such that the SPaT is always the same or is dynamic such that the SPaT changes based on traffic flow or time of day.
7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising obtaining movement-based SPaT for the one or more traffic lights based on the vehicle location and the vehicle speed indicated in the vehicle data from the two or more vehicles and determining a consensus between the SPaT observations and the movement-based SPaT.
8. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising, based on the consensus between the SPaT observations and the movement-based SPaT being greater than a second threshold value, proceeding with the providing the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights based on the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights being static and proceeding with the providing the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights along with a confidence value that decays with reduced recent-ness of reporting of vehicle data to the management system based on the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights being dynamic.
9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining the lane correspondence based on the vehicle location and the image information or the images from the two or more vehicles.
10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the providing the at least one of the three types of information about the one or more traffic lights for the operation of autonomous vehicles is as an application program interface (API) or as an augmented map.
11. A system to perform traffic signal management for operation of autonomous vehicles, the system comprising:
a communication module configured to obtain vehicle data from two or more vehicles at an intersection with one or more traffic lights, the vehicle data including vehicle location, vehicle speed, and image information or images; and
a processor configured to determine at least one of three types of information about the one or more traffic lights based on the vehicle data, the three types of information including a location of the one or more traffic lights, a signal phase and timing (SPaT) of the one or more traffic lights, and a lane correspondence of the one or more traffic lights, indicating which lane each of the one or more traffic lights corresponds with, based on the vehicle data from the two or more vehicles, wherein the processor is configured to determine the location of the one or more traffic lights by determining a consensus between the location determined based on the two or more vehicles and additional information from one or more sources, and the processor is configured to determine the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights by determining a consensus among the SPaT determined based on the two or more vehicles, and to provide the at least one of the three types of information about the one or more traffic lights for the operation of autonomous vehicles.
12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the location of the one or more traffic lights using the image information or the images and using the vehicle location from the vehicle data obtained from the two or more vehicles at the intersection.
13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the communication module is further configured to obtain the additional information from the one or more other sources, the additional information including a surveyed location of the one or more traffic lights and the one or more other sources including the two or more vehicles relaying a message from the intersection, a municipal traffic center information system, or a commercial traffic center information system.
14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the consensus between the location of the one or more traffic lights using the vehicle data from the two or more vehicles at the intersection and the surveyed location obtained from the additional information using a standard deviation or a median absolute deviation.
15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to provide the location of the one or more traffic lights for the operation of autonomous vehicles based on the consensus being greater than a threshold consensus value, and is configured to increase a number of the two or more vehicles from which to obtain the vehicle data based on the consensus being less than the threshold consensus value.
16. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain SPaT observations for the one or more traffic lights from the two or more vehicles based on the image information or the images and to determine, based on the consensus among the SPaT observations from the two or more vehicles being greater than a first threshold value, whether the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights is static such that the SPaT is always the same or is dynamic such that the SPaT changes based on traffic flow or time of day.
17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain movement-based SPaT for the one or more traffic lights based on the vehicle location and the vehicle speed indicated in the vehicle data from the two or more vehicles and to determine a consensus between the SPaT observations and the movement-based SPaT.
18. The system according to claim 16 , wherein, based on the consensus between the SPaT observations and the movement-based SPaT being greater than a second threshold value, the processor is configured to provide the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights based on the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights being static and to provide the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights along with a confidence value that decays with reduced recent-ness of reporting of vehicle data to the management system based on the SPaT of the one or more traffic lights being dynamic.
19. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the lane correspondence based on the vehicle location and the image information or the images from the two or more vehicles.
20. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to provide the at least one of the three types of information about the one or more traffic lights for the operation of autonomous vehicles as an application program interface (API) or as an augmented map.