An Onboard Virtual Rumble-Strip Based Operation for Road Departure Warning Phase I - FY11 NATSRL

Project summary:

The use of rumble strips on roads has proven to be an effective means of providing drivers with lane-departure warning (LDW). However, rumble strips require an infrastructure and do not exist on a majority of roadways. Furthermore, it?s difficult to determine where to establish the rumble-strip distance threshold. To develop an effective virtual rumble-strip LDW system for which the rumble-strip threshold is allowed to vary according to the risk of the vehicle departing the road, it is essential to know the vehicle?s lateral characteristics--in particular, the vehicle?s lateral position and speed. This research used image processing via an in-vehicle camera to estimate the vehicle?s lateral position and speed. The lateral position is estimated by determining the vehicle?s heading angle via a homography and the Lucas-Kanade optical flow techniques; while the lateral speed is determined via the heading angle and the vehicle?s on-board diagnostic (OBD)-II forward-speed data access. The approach detailed in this research will need only the minimal set of information to characterize the vehicle lateral characteristics, therefore, making it more feasible in a vehicle application.