Automated Bump and/or Depression Detection in a Roadway

Abstract

Systems, devices, products, apparatuses, and/or methods for identifying a speed bump for an autonomous vehicle on a roadway by determining at least one beginning location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with a greatest positive change or a greatest negative change in the one or more parameters and at least one ending location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with the other of the greatest positive change or the greatest negative change in the one or more parameters, and identifying at least one bump or depression in the roadway based on the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 obtaining, with a computing system comprising one or more processors, sensor data associated with one or more traversals of a roadway in a geographic location by one or more vehicles, wherein the sensor data includes one or more parameters associated with a plurality of locations in the roadway;   determining, with the computing system, for each subset of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of locations, a change in the one or more parameters over that subset of locations;   determining, with the computing system, one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets having a greater change in the one or more parameters than one or more other subsets of the plurality of subsets;   determining, with the computing system, at least one beginning location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with a greatest positive change or a greatest negative change in the one or more parameters and at least one ending location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with the other of the greatest positive change or the greatest negative change in the one or more parameters; and   identifying, with the computing system, at least one bump or depression in the roadway based on the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the at least one bump or depression in the roadway further comprises:
 determining, with the computing system, at least one highest or lowest location between the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets based on at least one parameter associated with locations in a line between the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location in the roadway;   determining, with the computing system, a centerline from a plurality of lines projecting at a plurality of angles through the at least one highest or lowest location, wherein the centerline corresponds to a line of the plurality of lines having a minimum change between the at least one highest or lowest location and other locations in the line; and   generating, with the computing system, a beginning line projecting through the at least one beginning location in the one or more subsets parallel to the centerline and an ending line projecting through the at least one ending location in the one or more subsets parallel to the centerline.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of locations correspond to a plurality of map areas of a map of the geographic location, and wherein the subset of the plurality of locations are associated with a predetermined distance comprising a car length distance, a half-car length distance, and/or the like. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets of the plurality of locations includes two or more subsets, and wherein at least a portion of the locations in a first subset of the two or more subsets overlaps with at least a portion of the locations in a second subset in the two or more subsets, the method further comprising:
 generating a probability map associated with a probability of the at least one bump or depression in at least one map area of the plurality of map areas, based on at least the portion of the locations in the first subset of the two or more subsets overlapping with at least the portion of the locations in the second subset of the two or more subsets, wherein the probability map comprises at least one map layer in a plurality of map layers of the map, and wherein the probability map includes the probability that the location of the overlapping portions includes the at least one bump or depression in the roadway.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , the method further comprising:
 generating, with the computing system, a region in the probability map of the geographic location, corresponding to the probability that the map area associated with the region is a location of the at least one bump or depression.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 providing, with the computing system, the map including the region having a selectable factor in the map for indicating the location of the bump or depression in the map of the geographic location.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 generating, with the computing system, a right edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on at least one of a first edge of the roadway and a first edge of an intersection of the roadway; and   generating, with the computing system, a left edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on at least one of a second edge of the roadway and a second edge of the intersection of the roadway.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , comprising:
 generating, with the computing system, a right edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on the at least one parameter of locations between the beginning line and the ending line; and   generating, with the computing system, a left edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on the at least one parameter of locations between the beginning line and the ending line.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of the following parameters: z-value, pitch, pitch rate, longitudinal speed, longitudinal acceleration, yaw, yaw rate, latitudinal speed, latitudinal acceleration, x-values, y-values, roll, or roll rate. 
     
     
         10 . A computing system comprising:
 one or more processors programmed and/or configured to:
 obtain sensor data associated with one or more traversals of a roadway in a geographic location by one or more vehicles, wherein the sensor data includes one or more parameters associated with a plurality of locations in the roadway; 
   determine for each subset of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of locations, a change in the one or more parameters over that subset of locations;   determine one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets having a greater change in the one or more parameters than one or more other subsets of the plurality of subsets;   determine at least one beginning location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with a greatest positive change or a greatest negative change in the one or more parameters and at least one ending location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with the other of the greatest positive change or the greatest negative change in the one or more parameters; and   identify at least one bump or depression in the roadway based on the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location.   
     
     
         11 . The computing system of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to identify the at least one bump or depression in the roadway by:
 determining at least one highest or lowest location between the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets based on at least one parameter associated with locations in a line between the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location in the roadway;   determining a centerline from a plurality of lines projecting at a plurality of angles through the at least one highest or lowest location, wherein the centerline corresponds to a line of the plurality of lines having a minimum change in the at least one highest or lowest location and other locations in the line; and   generating a beginning line projecting through the at least one beginning location in the one or more subsets parallel to the centerline and an ending line projecting through the at least one ending location in the one or more subsets parallel to the centerline.   
     
     
         12 . The computing system of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of locations correspond to a plurality of map areas of a map of the geographic location, and wherein the subset of the plurality of locations are associated with a predetermined distance comprising a car length distance, a half-car length distance, and/or the like. 
     
     
         13 . The computing system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets of the plurality of locations includes two or more subsets, and wherein at least a portion of the locations in a first subset of the two or more subsets overlaps with at least a portion of the locations in a second subset in the two or more subsets, and wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to:
 generate a probability map associated with a probability of the at least one bump or depression in at least one map area of the plurality of map areas, based on at least the portion of the locations in the first subset of the two or more subsets overlapping with at least the portion of the locations in the second subset of the two or more subsets, wherein the probability map comprises at least one map layer in a plurality of map layers of the map, and wherein the probability map includes a probability that the location of the overlapping portions includes the at least one bump or depression in the roadway.   
     
     
         14 . The computing system of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to:
 generate a region in the probability map of the geographic location, corresponding to a probability that the map area associated with the region is a location of the at least one bump or depression.   
     
     
         15 . The computing system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to:
 provide the map including the region having a selectable factor in the map for indicating the location of the at least one bump or depression in the map of the geographic location.   
     
     
         16 . The computing system of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to:
 generate a right edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on at least one of a first edge of the roadway and a first edge of an intersection of the roadway; and   generate a left edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on at least one of a second edge of the roadway and a second edge of the intersection of the roadway.   
     
     
         17 . The computing system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to:
 generate a right edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on the at least one parameter of locations between the beginning line and the ending line; and   generate a left edge connecting the beginning line and the ending line based on the at least one parameter of locations between the beginning line and the ending line.   
     
     
         18 . The computing system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of the following parameters: z-value, pitch, pitch rate, longitudinal speed, longitudinal acceleration, yaw, yaw rate, latitudinal speed, latitudinal acceleration, x-values, y-values, roll, or roll rate. 
     
     
         19 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
 obtain sensor data associated with one or more traversals of a roadway in a geographic location by one or more vehicles, wherein the sensor data includes one or more parameters associated with a plurality of locations in the roadway, and wherein the plurality of locations are associated with a predetermined distance comprising a car length distance or a half-car length distance;   determine for each subset of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of locations, a change in the one or more parameters over that subset of locations;   determine one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets having a greater change in the one or more parameters than one or more other subsets of the plurality of subsets;   determine at least one beginning location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with a greatest positive change or a greatest negative change in the one or more parameters and at least one ending location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets associated with the other of the greatest positive change or the greatest negative change in the one or more parameters; and   identify at least one bump or depression in the roadway based on the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium includes further programming instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
 determine at least one highest or lowest location between the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location in the one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets based on at least one parameter associated with locations in a line between the at least one beginning location and the at least one ending location in the roadway;   determine a centerline from a plurality of lines projecting at a plurality of angles through the at least one highest or lowest location,
 wherein the centerline corresponds to a line of the plurality of lines having a minimum change between the at least one highest or lowest location and other locations in the line; and 
   generate a beginning line projecting through the at least one beginning location in the one or more subsets parallel to the centerline and an ending line projecting through the at least one ending location in the one or more subsets parallel to the centerline.