IP Library Granted Patent US 12,373,689
Granted Patent B2
US 12,373,689 · App. 18/174,856 · Granted Jul 29, 2025

Landmark detection using curve fitting for autonomous driving applications

Inventors: Minwoo Park (Saratoga, CA); Yilin Yang (Santa Clara, CA); Xiaolin Lin (Sunnyvale, CA); Abhishek Bajpayee (Santa Clara, CA); Hae-Jong Seo (Campbell, CA); Eric Jonathan Yuan (Menlo Park, CA); Xudong Chen (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
G06N3/08B60W60/001G05D1/0088G06F18/214G06F18/23G06N3/045G06V10/26G06V10/454G06V10/46G06V10/757G06V10/763G06V10/764G06V10/774G06V10/82G06V10/955G06V20/58G06V20/582G06V20/588B60W2420/403G06V10/471
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,373,689
App. No.
18/174,856
Granted
Jul 29, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

In various examples, one or more deep neural networks (DNNs) are executed to regress on control points of a curve, and the control points may be used to perform a curve fitting operation—e.g., Bezier curve fitting—to identify landmark locations and geometries in an environment. The outputs of the DNN(s) may thus indicate the two-dimensional (2D) image-space and/or three-dimensional (3D) world-space control point locations, and post-processing techniques—such as clustering and temporal smoothing—may be executed to determine landmark locations and poses with precision and in real-time. As a result, reconstructed curves corresponding to the landmarks—e.g., lane line, road boundary line, crosswalk, pole, text, etc.—may be used by a vehicle to perform one or more operations for navigating an environment.

Claims (83)

1. A method comprising:

determining, using one or more neural networks and based at least on sensor data obtained using one or more sensors of a machine:

one or more locations of one or more lines that represent one or more contours along one or more objects or one or more features; and

classification information corresponding to the one or more lines; and

performing one or more operations by the machine based at least on the one or more lines and the classification information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

associating, based at least on the classification information, one or more class types with the one or more lines,

wherein the performing the one or more operations by the machine is based at least on the one or more lines and the one or more class types associated with the one or more lines.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, based at least on the classification information, a first score associated with a first class type for a line of the one or more lines and a second score associated with a second class type for the line;

determining, based at least on the first score being greater than the second score, that the line is associated with the first class type,

wherein the performing the one or more operations by the machine is based at least on the line and the class type associated with the line.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the classification information indicates that the one or more lines represent at least one of one or more road markings, one or more lane lines, one or more road boundary lines, one or more intersection lines, one or more pedestrian walkways, one or more bike lane lines, text, one or more poles, one or more trees, one or more light posts, or one or more signs.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more lines do not correspond to one or more bounding shapes of the one or more objects or the one or more features.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, using one or more clustering techniques and based at least on the one or more lines, a final set of lines,

wherein the performing the one or more operations by the machine is based at least on the final set of lines and the classification information.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the one or more lines comprise at least a first line and a second line identified in an image;

the method further comprises:

determining that the first line is within a threshold distance to the second line; and

selecting the first line based at least on the first line being within the threshold distance to the second line; and

the performing the one or more operations by the machine is based at least on the first line and the classification information.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the selecting the first line comprises:

determining a first confidence associated with the first line;

determining a second confidence associated with the second line; and

selecting the first line based at least on the first confidence being greater than the second confidence.

9. A system comprising:

one or more processors to:

determine, using one or more neural networks and based at least on sensor data obtained using one or more sensors of a machine:

one or more curves corresponding to one or more contours of one or more objects or one or more features identified using the sensor data; and

classification information associated with the one or more curves; and

cause the machine to perform one or more operations based at least on the one or more curves and the classification information.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein:

the one or more curves comprise at least a first curve and a second curve; and

the determination of the one or more curves comprises:

determining that the first curve is within a threshold similarity to the second curve; and

generating, based at least on the first curve being within the threshold similarity to the second curve, a third curve by combining the first curve and the second curve, the one or more curves including at least the third curve.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein:

the one or more curves comprise at least a first curve and a second curve; and

the determination of the one or more curves comprises:

determining that the first curve is within a threshold distance to the second curve; and

generating, based at least on the first curve being within the threshold distance to the second curve, a third curve by combining the first curve and the second curve, the one or more curves including at least the third curve.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein:

the one or more curves comprise at least a first curve and a second curve; and

the one or more processors are further to:

determine that the first curve is within a threshold distance to the second curve; and

select the first curve based at least on the first curve being within the threshold distance to the second curve,

wherein the machine is caused to perform the one or more operations based at least on the first curve.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the selection of the first curve comprises:

determining a first confidence associated with the first curve;

determining a second confidence associated with the second curve; and

selecting the first curve based at least on the first confidence being greater than the second confidence.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more curves do not correspond to a bounding shape associated with the one or more objects or the one or more features.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further to:

determine, based at least on the classification information, a first score associated with a first class type for a curve of the one or more curves and a second score associated with a second class type for the curve; and

determine, based at least on the first score being greater than the second score, that the curve is associated with the first class type,

wherein the machine is caused to perform the one or more operations further based at least on the first class type.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the determination of the one or more curves comprises:

determining, using the one or more neural networks and based at least on the sensor data, one or more locations of one or more control points identified using the sensor data; and

generating the one or more curves based at least on the one or more locations of the one or more control points.

17. The system of claim 9 , wherein the system comprises at least one of:

a system for performing simulation operations;

a system for performing simulation operations to test or validate autonomous machine applications;

a system for performing deep learning operations;

a system implemented using an edge device;

a system incorporating one or more Virtual Machines (VMs);

a system implemented at least partially in a data center; or

a system implemented at least partially using cloud computing resources.

18. One or more processors comprising:

processing circuitry to cause a machine to perform one or more operations based at least on one or more locations of one or more curves and classification information associated with the one or more curves, wherein the one or more locations of the one or more curves and the classification information are determined using one or more outputs of one or more machine learning models and based at least on sensor data obtained using one or more sensors of the machine,

wherein the classification information indicates that the one or more curves represent at least one of one or more road markings, one or more lane lines, one or more road boundary lines, one or more intersection lines, one or more pedestrian walkways, one or more bike lane lines, text, one or more poles, one or more trees, one or more light posts or one or more signs.

19. The one or more processors of claim 18 , wherein the one or more processors are further to:

determine, using one or more clustering techniques and based at least on the one or more curves, a final set of curves,

wherein the machine is caused to perform the one or more operations based at least on the final set of curves and the classification information.

20. The one or more processors of claim 18 , wherein the one or more processors are comprised in at least one of:

a processor for performing simulation operations;

a processor for performing simulation operations to test or validate autonomous machine applications;

a system for performing deep learning operations;

a system implemented using an edge device;

a system incorporating one or more Virtual Machines (VMs);

a system implemented at least partially in a data center; or

a system implemented at least partially using cloud computing resources.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 28, 2023
From: PARK, MINWOO; YANG, YILIN; LIN, XIAOLIN; BAJPAYEE, ABHISHEK; SEO, HAE-JONG; YUAN, ERIC JONATHAN; CHEN, XUDONG
To: NVIDIA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 064717/0790 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17109421 · Dec 2, 2020
Provisional Application 62943200 · Dec 3, 2019
Related Publication 20230214654A1 · Jul 6, 2023
References Cited (71)
US 10885698B2 · Muthler et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11651215B2 · Park et al. · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 20100329513A1 · Klefenz · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20120050074A1 · Bechtel · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20130190981A1 · Dolinar · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20160209511A1 · Dolinar · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160321074A1 · Hung et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20180121273A1 · Fortino et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180129887A1 · Kang · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180189578A1 · Yang · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180370540A1 · Yousuf et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190266418A1 · Xu et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190310651A1 · Vallespi-Gonzalez · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20200250440A1 · Campos · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200385014A1 · Hanniel · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20210080966A1 · Tran · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210096264A1 · Bosse · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210192231A1 · Lee · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20230214654A1 · Park · 2023 [cited by examiner]
CN 110494863A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
EP 3171297A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
JP 2018088151A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
KR 20180071552A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
Qin Zou , “Robust Lane Detection From Continuous Driving Scenes Using Deep Neural Networks,” Oct. 25, 2019, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 69, No. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 41-49. [cited by examiner]
Ling Zheng et al. , “Lane-Level Road Network Generation Techniques for Lane-Level Maps of Autonomous Vehicles: A Survey,” Aug. 20, 2019, Sustainability 2019, 11(16), 4511; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164511, pp. 1-9. [cited by examiner]
Any Gupta et al.,“A Framework for Camera-Based Real-Time Lane and Road Surface Marking Detection and Recognition,” Nov. 21, 2018,IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, vol. 3, No. 4, Dec. 2018,pp. 476-485. [cited by examiner]
Rafael Vivacqua et al.,“Article A Low Cost Sensors Approach for Accurate Vehicle Localization and Autonomous Driving Application,” Oct. 16, 2017, Sensors 2017, 17, 2359,pp. 1-26. [cited by examiner]
Jian-ru Xue et al.,“A vision-centered multi-sensor fusing approach to self-localization and obstacle perception for robotic cars,” Jan. 10, 2017,Front Inform Technol Electron Eng 2017 18(1),pp. 122-136. [cited by examiner]
P. Nunez et al.,“Natural landmark extraction for mobile robot navigation based on an adaptive curvature estimation,” Jul. 31, 2017, Robotics and Autonomous Systems 56 (2008),pp. 247-258. [cited by examiner]
V. John et al.,“Real-time road surface and semantic lane estimation using deep features,” Mar. 8, 2018, Signal, Image and Video Processing (2018) 12,pp. 1133-1138. [cited by examiner]
Richard Matthaei et al.,“Robust Grid-Based Road Detection for ADAS and Autonomous Vehicles in Urban Environments,” 16th International Conference on Information Fusion Istanbul, Turkey, Jul. 9-12, 2013,pp. 938-943. [cited by examiner]
Guangliang Cheng et al.,“Automatic Road Detection and Centerline Extraction via Cascaded End-to-End Convolutional Neural Network,” Mar. 7, 2017, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol. 55, No. 6, Jun. 2… [cited by examiner]
Park, Minwoo; International Preliminary Report on Patentability for PCT Application No. PCT/US2020/062869, filed Dec. 2, 2020, mailed Jun. 16, 2022, 9 pgs. [cited by applicant]
Park, Minwoo; Non-Final Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 17/109,421, filed Dec. 2, 2020, mailed Dec. 6, 2022, 36 pgs. [cited by applicant]
Qin Zou, “Robust Lane Detection From Continuous Driving Scenes Using Deep Neural Networks,” Oct. 25, 2019, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 69, No. 1, Jan. 2020, 14 pgs. [cited by applicant]
Ling Zheng, “Lane-Level Road Network Generation Techniques for lane-Level Maps of Autonomous Vehicles: A Survey,” Aug. 20, 2019, Sustainability 2019, 11(16), 4511; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164511, 19 pgs. [cited by applicant]
“Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles”, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Standard No. J3016-201609, pp. 30 (Sep. 30, 2016). [cited by applicant]
“Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles”, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Standard No. J3016-201806, pp. 35 (Jun. 15, 2018). [cited by applicant]
“Tensorflow”, Retrieved from the Internet URL :https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/master/tensorflow/core/kernels/hinge-loss.h, accessed on May 16, 2019, pp. 1-4. [cited by applicant]
“Tf.losses.get_regularization_loss”, TensorFlow Core 1.13, Retrieved from the Internet URL : https://www.tensorflow.org/api_docs/python/tf/losses/get_regularization_loss, accessed on May 16, 2019, pp. 1-1. [cited by applicant]
“Tf.while_loop much slower than static graph? #9527”, tensorflow, Retrieved from the Internet URL : https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/issues/9527, accessed on May 16, 2019, pp. 1-7. [cited by applicant]
Cheng, G., et al., “Automatic Road Detection and Centerline Extraction via Cascaded End-to-End Convolutional Neural Network”, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing vol. 55, No. 6, pp. 3322-3337 (Jun. 1, 201… [cited by applicant]
John, V., et al., “Real-time road surface and semantic lane estimation using deep features”, Signal, Image and Video Processing, vol. 12, pp. 1133-1140 (Mar. 8, 2018). [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion received for PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2020/062869, mailed on Mar. 17, 2021, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
Yang, Z., “Research on Lane Recognition Algorithm Based on Deep Learning”, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Manufacturing (AIAM), IEEE, pp. 387-391 (2019). [cited by applicant]
“Conservative Control for Zone Driving of Autonomous Vehicles Using Safe Time of Arrival”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/628,831, filed Feb. 9, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Convolutional Neural Networks to Detect Drivable Freespace for Autonomous Vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/643,665, filed Mar. 15, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Deep Learning for Path Detection in Autonomous Vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/684,328, filed Jun. 13, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Deep Neural Network for Estimating Depth from Stereo Using Semi-Supervised Learning”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/646,148, filed Mar. 21, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Distance Based Ambient Occlusion Filter for Denoising Ambient Occlusions”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/644,601, filed Mar. 19, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Energy Based Reflection Filter for Denoising Ray-Traced Glossy Reflections”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/644,386, filed Mar. 17, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Geometric Shadow Filter for Denoising Ray-Traced Shadows”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/644,385, filed Mar. 17, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Method and System of Remote Operation of a Vehicle Using an Immersive Virtual Reality Environment”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/648,493, filed Mar. 27, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Methodology of Using a Single Controller (ECU) For a Fault-Tolerant/Fail-Operational Self-Driving System”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/524,283, filed Jun. 23, 2017. [cited by applicant]
“Methods for accurate real-time object detection and for determining confidence of object detection suitable for D autonomous vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/631,781, filed Feb. 18, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Pruning Convolutional Neural Networks for Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/630,445, filed Feb. 14, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“System and Method for Autonomous Shuttles, Robo-Taxis, Ride-Sharing and On-Demand Vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/635,503, filed Feb. 26, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“System and Method for Safe Operation of Autonomous Vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/625,351, filed Feb. 2, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“System and Method for Sharing Camera Data Between Primary and Backup Controllers in Autonomous Vehicle Systems”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/629,822, filed Feb. 13, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“System and Method for Training, Testing, Verifying, and Validating Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/648,399, filed Mar. 27, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“System and Methods for Advanced AI-Assisted Vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/648,358, filed Mar. 26, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“System and Methods for Virtualized Intrusion Detection and Prevent System in Autonomous Vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/682,803, filed Jun. 8, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“Video Prediction Using Spatially Displaced Convolution”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/646,309, filed Mar. 21, 2018. [cited by applicant]
“System and method for controlling autonomous vehicles”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/614,466, filed Jan. 1, 2018. [cited by applicant]
Adaptive Occlusion Sampling of Rectangular Area Lights with Voxel Cone Tracing, U.S. Appl. No. 62/644,806, filed Mar. 19, 2018. [cited by applicant]
TensorFlow Authors, “Implementation of Control Flow in TensorFlow”, pp. 1-18, (Nov. 4, 2016). [cited by applicant]
“Video Prediction Using Spatially Displaced Convolution”, U.S. Appl. No. 62/647,545, filed Mar. 23, 2018. [cited by applicant]
Park, Minwoo; Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 17/109,421, filed Dec. 2, 0220, mailed Jan. 20, 2023, 11 pgs. [cited by applicant]
Kokkinos, I., “Pushing the Boundaries of Boundary Detection using Deep Leaming”, Retrieved from the Internet: URL:http://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.07386v2.pdf, pp. 1-12 (2016). [cited by applicant]
“Systems and Methods for Safe and Reliable Autonomous Vehicles” U.S. Appl. No. 62/584,549, filed Nov. 10, 2017. [cited by applicant]
Park, Minwoo; First Office Action for Chinese Patent Application No. 202080044052.2, filed Dec. 2, 2020, mailed May 8, 2025, 12 pgs. [cited by applicant]
Cited By (1)
US 12,710,275