US 11,699,279 B1
Method and device for heading estimation
Oliver Thomas Ruepp, Baierbrunn (DK); Jai Prakash, Cupertino, CA (US); Johan Hedborg, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Rahul Raguram, San Carlos, CA (US); and Michele Stoppa, Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Assigned to APPLE INC., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Jun. 23, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/909,014.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/868,213, filed on Jun. 28, 2019.
Int. Cl. G06K 9/00 (2022.01); G06V 10/44 (2022.01); G01C 21/30 (2006.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); G01C 21/08 (2006.01)
CPC G06V 10/44 (2022.01) [G01C 21/30 (2013.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); G01C 21/08 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
at a device including one or more processors, non-transitory memory, and an image sensor:
determining a geographic location of the device;
determining one or more dominant road directions at the geographic location by obtaining map data indicating the location of roads in an area around the geographic location;
determining a plurality of vanishing points corresponding to a plurality of candidate headings and the one or more dominant road directions at the geographic location;
capturing, using the image sensor, an image at the geographic location;
detecting one or more lines within the image; and
determining a heading of the device by selecting one of the plurality of candidate headings based on the one or more lines and the plurality of vanishing points.