GB2586485A

GB2586485A - Lane information system and method

Info

Publication number: GB2586485A
Application number: GB1911965.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Vishnumurthy Adiga Vinay
Original assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
Current assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
Priority date: 2019-08-21
Filing date: 2019-08-21
Publication date: 2021-02-24
Also published as: GB201911965D0

Abstract

Lane information system 100 comprises a display 106 configured to display an indication of current or future lane load determined for each lane of a road segment 200. Lane load refers to lane utilisation (e.g. numbers of vehicles occupying a lane) and may consider frequency of vehicles entering, leaving or switching lanes; fluidity of vehicles in the lane; individual vehicle speeds and average speeds. A lane detection device such as camera 102 on a road infrastructure or a vehicle may capture a real-time scene of the road. Remote database manager 104 may determine lane loads by analysing the scene to determine a number of vehicles in each lane; or from lane occupancy or speed data obtained from the vehicles. It may transmit the lane loads for display above each corresponding lane. Transceiver 108 may also transmit the lane loads to users 110 in the vehicles. Road users are thus informed of the capacity of each lane.

Description

Lane Information System and Method

Field of Invention

[001] The present disclosure relates to a lane information system and a method for indicating lane load for each lane of a road segment.

Background of Invention

[2] With a growing urban population, there is a direct increase in traffic on city roads. Furthermore, motor vehicles are becoming more accessible to the public, also leading to a continual increase of vehicles on the roads. Owners of road infrastructure cope with this increase by widening the roads, building new roads, or various other means to ease the traffic flow. However, the urban population still has to bear with slow traffic flow, especially during peak hours. Time wasted in a traffic congestion can cost cities billions of dollars annually.

[3] There is therefore a need to provide alternative ways to cope with an increase in traffic on roads.

Description

[4] It has been observed that not all lanes of a road are utilized efficiently or have similar traffic distribution. Some road users prefer to use a particular lane because of their route or habit or because of the design of the road entry or exit points.

Therefore, some lanes maybe overused or underused. Therefore, it is an object to provide a system and method that can inform road users of the capacity of each lane of a road segment.

[5] To accomplish this and other objects, there is provided, in a first aspect, a lane information system comprising a display configured to display an indication of lane load determined for each lane of a road segment.

[6] In another aspect, there is provided a method for indicating lane load for each lane of a road segment, the method comprising: determining, by a database manager, the lane load for each lane; transmitting, by the database manager, the determined lane load to a display arranged above each lane of the road segment; displaying, by the display, an indication of the lane load on the display such that the indication displayed corresponds to each lane of the road segment.

[007] The disclosed display may be arranged above the road segment such that the indication displayed corresponds to each lane of the road segment. The display may be hosted above or on top of each lane to convey information, such as lane load information. The display may become part of the road infrastructure.

Advantageously, the display can be seen from afar by road users approaching the road segment. The display may provide a bird's eye view of the load of each lane to road users. Further advantageously, the lane load for each lane may be displayed as an indication so that road users are able to quickly assess and make driving decisions based on the lane information. Thus, road users are advantageously provided with intelligence or information of which lane has capacity or is congested.

[008] The road segment where the display is located maybe a road segment where lane load balancing or traffic distribution is desired. As an illustration, a suitable segment of road may he for example the portion of road after two multi-lane roads merge into one multi-lane road.

[009] Lane load refers to the utilization of a lane of a road segment. Utilization of a lane may refer to the number of vehicles and other objects, e.g. people, animals or bicycles, using or occupying the lane, and may also consider the frequency of such vehicles entering or exiting the lane and the fluidity of such vehicles in the lane. In some into account the number of vehicles are switching lanes the speed of each vehicle vehicles in the lane.

implementations, the lane load takes vehicles on the lane, whether the and the frequency of lane switching, speed of all in the lane and the average [0010] The lane load may include the lane load in real-time, the present or current lane load. The current lane load may be determined by any means suitable to provide a current or real-time assessment of the lane (s) in the road segment. The lane information system may further comprise a lane detection device configured to detect a real-time scene or live traffic data of the road segment. The lane detection device may comprise sensors such as optical sensors or other sensors like radar or lidar. In some implementations, the lane detection device comprises one or more cameras, such as those taking video frames, still shots, or infrared cameras.

[0011] The lane detection device may be located at a suitable position to capture the scene of the road segment. The lane detection device may be located on road infrastructure or on a vehicle associated with the road segment or both. For example, cameras maybe hosted either on top of lampposts, traffic lights, or other road infrastructure, or even on dedicated poles or the disclosed display, to obtain a bird's eye view of the road segment to be monitored. Such cameras may be configured to face the direction of the traffic movement of that lane, so that the front of vehicles is captured. In another example, cameras located on vehicles associated with the road segment, i.e. approaching the road segment or having the road segment as part of the vehicle's navigation route, maybe used as the lane detection device. In yet another example, a vehicle system that determines the lane the vehicle is currently in, i.e. lane occupancy, may be used as the lane detection device, e.g. a vehicle's lane determining system or a vehicle's localization system that takes input from vehicle sensors and map data to determine the lane it is occupying.

[0012] In some implementations, determination of the lane load may be derived from the real-time scene of the road segment. In some implementations, determination of the lane load may be supplemented by other types of data, e.g. speed of each vehicle associated with the road segment or an average speed of vehicles associated with the road segment. Determining the lane load for each lane may comprise determining the average speed of the vehicles on each lane of the road segment based on speed data obtained from each vehicle of the network of vehicles associated with the road segment. The real-time scene of the road segment and/or other data maybe processed to determine the lane load for each lane. Depending on the computing resources required for processing, in some implementations, the real-time scene and/or other data may be transmitted to or obtained by a database manager which is remote from the display. The database manager may be configured to process the real-time scene of the road segment and/or other data to determine the lane load for each lane. In implementations where the processing of the data is relatively less resource-intensive, determination of the lane load for each lane may be undertaken by a processor located with the display.

[0013] Processing the real-time scene of the road segment may comprise analysing the real-time scene and determining the number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment. Determining the lane load for each lane may comprise analysing the real-time scene of the road segment obtained from the lane detection device to determine the number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment. The number of vehicles in each lane may consider the number of vehicles entering or exiting the lane. Where the real-time scene is an image or video frame, trained machine learning models may be used to determine the number of vehicles in each lane. Where the real-time scene comprises data of the lane currently occupied by a vehicle, mathematical models may be used to combine or aggregate such data to determine the number of vehicles in each lane. Such lane occupancy data may comprise the lane occupied by a vehicle in a network of vehicles associated with the road segment. Determining the number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment may comprise obtaining lane occupancy data from the network of vehicles.

[0014] As mentioned, in some implementations, the lane information system comprises the display and may further comprise the database manager remote from the display, the database manager configured to determine the lane load for each lane of the road segment. In such implementations, the display, which is located on-site at the road segment, may not need to undertake the processing of data or at least the bulk of the data processing and may thus advantageously be lightweight. The database manager may be located in an indoor environment, not subject to weather and environmental conditions that the display may be subjected to.

[0015] The database manager may be configured to obtain the real-time scene of the road segment from the lane detection device. The database manager may be configured to process the real-time scene of the road segment from the lane detection device. The database manager maybe configured to analyse the real-time scene and determine the number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment. In some implementations, the lane detection device may be configured to automatically transmit the data to the database manager, e.g. periodically or upon a trigger event. In some implementations, the database manager may transmit a request to the lane detection device in order to retrieve the data from the lane detection device. Such implementations typically occur when the lane detection device is not owned or controlled by the same entity as the display and the database manager.

[0016] The database manager may be configured to obtain lane occupancy data from the network of vehicles associated with the road segment, the lane occupancy data comprising the lane occupied by each vehicle of the network of vehicles. Such lane occupancy data may be obtained from vehicle systems, such as a dash cam or a camera of a driver assistance system or a lane localization system. Such lane occupancy data may be obtained from the lane detection device. The lane occupancy data may be used to supplement or to confirm the number of vehicles in each lane or the lane load determined from the scene of the road segment. The database manager may transmit a request to the vehicle(s) in order to retrieve the lane occupancy data.

[0017] The database manager may be configured to obtain speed data of each vehicle of the network of vehicles associated with the road segment. The database manager may transmit a request to the vehicle (s) in order to retrieve the speed data. Alternatively, the speed data may be obtained from other databases that collect speed data, e.g. insurance provider databases. The database manager may be configured to process the speed data obtained. The database manager may be configured to determine an average speed of the vehicles on each lane of the road segment.

[0018] In implementations where the database manager is present, the lane load may be derived from a plurality of data, such as the data disclosed herein, including the real-time scene, the lane occupancy data and the speed data. The database manager may be configured to determine the lane load for each lane of the road segment based on the real-time scene of the road segment, or lane occupancy data obtained from the network of vehicles associated with the road segment, or speed data obtained from each vehicle of the network of vehicles, or a combination thereof.

[0019] The database manager may be configured to store the plurality of data, including the determined lane load, so that the data may be used as a source of historical data. The database manager may therefore be a central repository of collected data, processed data, determined data and/or other data that may provide insight as to lane load of the specific road segments. Historical data and/or the current real-time data may be used to predict future data. Since lane load is typically provided to the disclosed displays at road segments to illustrate the real-time traffic situation, data maybe predicted for the near future, e.g. in the next 5 minutes. In some scenarios, lane load data maybe provided to enable route planning, e.g. per-lane route planning. In such scenarios, data may be predicted further ahead into the future, e.g. for the next 30 minutes. In cases where real-time data cannot be detected or obtained, e.g. when the lane detection device is not working or when data cannot be wirelessly transmitted due to any reason, the predicted data, e.g. predicted lane load, may be used in the interim for display. Predicted data may be used to smooth the flow of data in the event of sudden, unforeseen spikes or dips. In another example, predicted data may be used to foresee which lane of a road segment will be overloaded. Thus, in some implementations, the determined lane load may comprise current lane load and future lane load.

[0020] The determined lane load may be displayed on the display as an indication. As mentioned above, road users are advantageously able to quickly assess and make driving decisions based on the indication. An indication of the lane load may be in the form of a text message displayed above each lane, e.g. "Lane 1 will be congested for the next 10 minutes" or simply "Heavy Traffic". The indication may be of the average speed of the vehicles on each lane of the road segment. The indication may be in the form of colour-coded information, e.g. a green display above the lane that is the best, least congested lane to take, an orange display above the lane that is moderately utilized with some delays expected when taking the lane, and a red display above the lane that is congested with traffic that is slow moving or at a standstill.

[0021] The lane information system may further comprise a transceiver configured to transmit the determined lane load or the indication of the lane load to the network of vehicles associated with the road segment. The disclosed method may further comprise transmitting the determined lane load to a network of vehicles associated with the road segment. Advantageously, the disclosed system and method may aid in broadcasting traffic information directly to vehicles about to travel on the road segment. Road users may therefore be provided with intelligence or information of which lane has capacity or is congested. The transceiver may also be capable of wirelessly receiving data, such as the real-time scene from the lane detection device or the lane occupancy data or speed data from vehicles associated with the road segment. The transceiver may be located on the display or at the database manager. The transceiver may transmit information from the database manager through any wireless communication protocol that is suitable to be received by the vehicles. For example, where the transceiver is located with the display, the transceiver may transmit the information to vehicles via short-range or mid-range wireless communication protocols, e.g. dedicated short-range communication. In another example, where the transceiver is located with the database manager, the transceiver may transmit the information to vehicles via cellular telecommunication protocols or other long-range protocols.

[0022] The lane information system or the database manager may typically be administered by a government body, e.g. a transportation authority or a home affairs ministry. Data from the disclosed database manager maybe shared with other public entities or to other entities such as information aggregators, service or data analytics providers, map providers, or used to train data sets. For example, map providers may provide mapping services that send the lane load information or indication of lane load as traffic or map updates to end users' personal devices. Users may therefore be able to access information on their smart devices from any point to plan their travel route in advance. Thus, the information may be available not only to vehicles associated with the road segment, but to the general public. The transceiver may transmit the information to such entities, who in turn may transmit the information to end users, such as vehicles about to travel on the road segment or to the public in general. In implementations where lane load or indication of lane load is transmitted to end users, the information provided to the end user may illustrate the current lane load and/or a predicted lane load. Devices of end users, such as a navigation system of a vehicle or a map service of a personal device, may illustrate lane load information predicted for a suitable future period of time, e.g. for the next half hour, to enable route planning by the end user. Thus, an end user device maybe configured to display an indication of determined lane load and/or predicted lane load for each lane of a road segment to enable route planning, e.g. per-lane route planning. The indication may be displayed on a digital map or a digital map layer which maybe selectable upon user command.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0023]Fig. 1 shows an illustration of a lane information system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figs. 2a and 2b show an illustration of displays 106, 106' according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0025] In the figures, like numerals denote like parts.

Detailed Description of Drawings

[0026] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The detailed description of this invention will be provided for the purpose of explaining the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling a person skilled in the art to understand the invention for various exemplary embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The detailed description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise embodiments disclosed. Modifications and equivalents will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art and are encompassed within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[0027] Fig. 1 shows an illustration of a lane information system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The lane information system 100 comprises a display 106 configured to display an indication of lane load determined for each lane of a road segment. A display 106 is arranged above each road segment to be monitored. Therefore, the system 100 may comprise one, two, or more displays 106, depending on the number of road segments to be monitored. The lane information system 100 comprises a database manager 104 located at a location that is remote from the display 106. The lane information system 100 comprises a lane detection device 102 configured to detect a real-time scene of the road segment. Lane detection device 102 includes sensors, such as cameras, and/or lane localization systems that are located on a vehicle associated with the road segment. Lane detection device 102 located on a vehicle may be part of the system of the vehicle associated with the road segment. A vehicle's lane localization system may transmit its real-time lane occupancy data to the database manager 104, while a vehicle's sensors may transmit real-time images to the database manager 104. One, two, or more vehicles associated with the road segment may transmit the real-time scene detected by each vehicle to the database manager 104. Lane detection device 102 also includes sensors, such as cameras, that are located on road infrastructure. Lane detection device 102 located on road infrastructure may be hosted on top of lampposts, traffic lights, dedicated poles, display 106, or other road infrastructure. Thus, one, two, or more lane detection devices 102 hosted on road infrastructure and/or on vehicle (s) associated with the road segment may transmit the detected real-time scene to the database manager 104.

[0028] The database manager 104 is configured to obtain the real-time scene of the road segment from the various lane detection devices 102. The database manager 104 is also configured to obtain the lane occupancy data from the network of vehicles associated with the road segment. The database manager 104 is then configured to analyse the real-time scene and determine the number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment. Speed data of each vehicle in the network of vehicles associated with the road segment can also be obtained by the database manager 104, so that an average speed of the vehicles on each lane of the road segment can be determined. The speed data can supplement the determination of the load of each lane. Thus, the database manager 104 is configured to determine the lane load for each lane of the road segment based on a real-time scene of the road segment, or lane occupancy data obtained from a network of vehicles associated with the road segment, or speed data obtained from each vehicle of the network of vehicles, or a combination thereof.

[0029]Lane load may be calculated as follows:

[Table 1]

Vehicle Type (VT) Lane Load Weightage (LLW) 2-Wheeler 0.5 4-Wheeler _ 6-Wheeler 3 8-Wheeler 4 I VT x LLW Lane Load -Speed (km/h) From the formula above, it is clear that the lower the total load (i.e. the numerator VTxLLW), the lesser will be the lane load for that particular lane. Using historic data and real-time sensor data, the different types of vehicles in each lane can be obtained.

Lane load can then be calculated with the above formula based on the obtained data on vehicle type and speed.

[0030] In addition to displaying an indication of the determined lane load on the display 106, the determined lane load or its indication can be transmitted directly to the network of vehicles associated with the road segment or to map providers to include the determined lane load as updates to mapping services for end users. Thus, any road user or interested party 110 maybe informed the lane capacities of such road segments. The lane information system 100 further comprises a transceiver 108 configured to transmit such data to users 110, including the network of vehicles associated with the road segment. The transceiver 108 may be located on the display 106 or at the database manager 104 and may transmit the raw lane load data and/or the indication of the lane load to users 110.

[0031]Exemplary architecture of the database manager 104 includes a central processing unit (CPU), where computer instructions are processed. The database manager 104 typically includes a random access memory (RAM), where computer instructions and data may be stored in a volatile memory device for processing by the CPU. Computer instructions may include steps of the method as disclosed herein. Depending on requirements, the database manager 104 may include a display interface that acts as a communication interface and provides functions for rendering video, graphics, images, and texts on the display, as well as a keyboard interface that provides a communication interface to a keyboard and a pointing device interface that provides a communication interface to a pointer. Database manager 104 may include an antenna interface and/or a network connection interface, such as a transceiver 108. The transceiver 108 provides functions for, e.g., capturing digital images from lane detection devices 102 that are wirelessly connected to database manager 104. The database manager 104 may include a telephony subsystem that allows the device to transmit and receive sound over a telephone network. The constituent devices and the CPU may communicate with each other over a bus. The database manager 104 typically includes a read-only memory (ROM) where invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard are stored in a non-volatile memory device. The database manager 104 includes a storage medium or other suitable type of memory (e.g. RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives), where files are stored, including an operating system, application programs (including, for example, a web browser application and/or other applications, as necessary) and data files (including the historical lane loads for each road segment) . [0032] Figs. 2a and 2b show an illustration of displays 106, 106' according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Each display 106, 106' is arranged above road segment 200, 200', respectively. Each display 106, 106' is arranged above the road segment 200, 200' such that the indication displayed corresponds to each lane of the road segment. The display may comprise separate panels (as illustrated by display 106 in Fig. 2a) or may be a single panel with separate indications (as illustrated by display 106' in Fig. 2b). The display 106, 106' may display the lane load as an indication. The indication may be of the average speed of the vehicles on each lane (as illustrated in Fig. 2a) or in the form of a simple text message of the traffic load of each lane (as illustrated in Fig. 2b). The indication may also include colour coded backgrounds or backgrounds with accented colours, whereby the darkest colour indicates a lane with the heaviest traffic and the lightest colour indicates a lane with the lightest traffic. The indication may take into account current lane load as well as future lane load to aid in, e.g., route planning. The display 106, 106' may host lane detection devices 102, 102'. There may be multiple lane detection devices for each road segment, e.g. a lane detection device 102 to capture the scene of each lane of road segment 200, as illustrated in Fig. 2a. There may be a lane detection device to capture the scene of a road segment, e.g. lane detection device 102' to capture the scene of road segment 200', as illustrated in Fig. 2b.

Claims

Patent claims 1. A lane information system comprising: a display configured to display an indication of lane load determined for each lane of a road segment.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a database manager remote from the display, the database manager configured to determine the lane load for each lane of the road segment.
3. The system of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a lane detection device configured to detect a real-time scene of the road segment.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the lane detection device comprises one or more cameras.
5. The system of claim 3 or 4, wherein the lane detection device is located on road infrastructure or on a vehicle associated with the road segment or both.
6. The system of any of claims 3-5, wherein the database manager is configurcd to obtain the rcal-timc scone of the road segment from the lane detection device.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the database manager is configured to analyse the real-time scene and determine number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment.
B. The system of any of claims 2-7, wherein the database manager is configured to obtain lane occupancy data from a network of vehicles associated with the road segment, the lane occupancy data comprising the lane occupied by each vehicle of the network of vehicles.
9. The system of any of claims 2-8, wherein the database manager is configured to obtain speed data of each vehicle of a network of vehicles associated with the road segment.
10.Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the database manager is further configured to determine an average speed of the vehicles on each lane of the road seyliLent.
11.The system of any of claims 2-10, wherein the database manager is configured to determine the lane load for each lane of the road segment based on a real-time scene of the road segment, or lane occupancy data obtained from a network of vehicles associated with the road segment, or speed data obtained from each vehicle of the network of vehicles, or a combination thereof.
12.The system of any preceding claim, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit the determined lane load to a network of vehicles associated with the road segment.
13.The system of claim 12, wherein the transceiver is located on the display.
14.The system of any preceding claim, wherein the display is arranged above the road segment such that the indication displayed corresponds to each lane of the road segment.
15.The system of any preceding claim, wherein the determined lane load comprises current lane load and future lane load.
16.A method for indicating lane load for each lane of a road segment, the method comprising: determining, by a database manager, the lane load for each lane; transmitting, by the database manager, the determined lane load to a display arranged above each lane of the road segment; displaying, by the display, an indication of the lane load on the display such that the indication displayed corresponds to each lane of the road segment.
17.The method of claim 16, wherein determining the lane load for each lane comprises: analysing a real-time scene of the road segment obtained from a lane detection device to determine number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment.
18.The method of claim 17, wherein determining the number of vehicles in each lane of the road segment comprises: obtaining lane occupancy data from a network of vehicles associated with the road segment, the lane occupancy data comprising the lane occupied by each vehicle of the network of vehicles.
19.The method of any of claims 16-18, wherein determining the lane load for each lane comprises: determining an average speed of the vehicles on each lane of the road segment based on speed data obtained from each vehicle of a network of vehicles associated with the road segment.
20.The method of any of claims 16-19, further comprising: transmitting the determined lane load to a network of vehicles associated with the road segment.