US 12,292,304 B2
System and method for determining passing, no-passing zones on roadways
Nicholas Hickman, Delaware, OH (US)
Filed by Nicholas Hickman, Delaware, OH (US)
Filed on Dec. 20, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/085,368.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/291,713, filed on Dec. 20, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0196912 A1, Jun. 22, 2023
Int. Cl. G01C 21/00 (2006.01); G01C 15/00 (2006.01); G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G08G 1/01 (2006.01); G08G 1/04 (2006.01); H04N 23/698 (2023.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01)
CPC G01C 21/3822 (2020.08) [G01C 15/00 (2013.01); G01C 15/002 (2013.01); G01C 21/3848 (2020.08); G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G08G 1/0112 (2013.01); G08G 1/0133 (2013.01); G08G 1/04 (2013.01); H04N 23/698 (2023.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of conducting a passing zone study on a road, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a position and orientation system (POS) data set for the road, wherein:
the POS data set comprises a plurality of POS data points;
each POS data point represents a location on the road;
each POS data point comprises both a vertical position measurement and a distance measurement;
providing a lidar map representing the road that was georeferenced with the POS data set;
determining if there are any vertical line-of-sight obstructions for each POS data point of the POS data set by:
selecting a first POS data point of the POS data set, wherein the first POS data point represents a first location in the target area;
defining a linear distance range that starts at the first POS data point and extends in either the forward or backwards direction for a predetermined distance;
identifying POS data points of the POS data set that have a distance value within the linear distance range;
selecting a second POS data point of the data set, wherein the second POS data point has a distance value at or near the end of the linear distance range;
calculating the rate-of-change in vertical position and distance between the first and second selected POS data points;
determining, based on the calculated rate-of-change, a vertical limit for each in-range POS data point;
determining, for each in-range POS data point, whether any of those POS data points have a vertical position measurement that is greater than their vertical limits;
determining if there are any horizontal line-of-sight obstructions for each data point of the data set by:
navigating to a location in the lidar map;
defining a field-of-view that starts at that location and extends in either the forward or backwards direction for a predetermined distance;
determining if there are any lidar points within the field-of-view;
creating a record of each location along the road where there is no horizontal line-of-sight obstruction nor any vertical line-of-sight obstructions.