A vehicle control apparatus determines a travelling region in which the vehicle is travelling among a plurality of regions into which an area is divided by a predetermined boundary line. When an obtained position which is determined based on a positioning signal from a positioning satellite is not included in a boundary zone, the apparatus determines that the travelling region is a region in which the obtained position is included. The boundary zone is a belt-like zone including the boundary line. Meanwhile, when the obtained position is not included in the boundary zone, the apparatus determines the travelling region based on a piece of information included in an image of an area in front of the vehicle. Each piece of the information is associated with one of the regions having a part overlapping the boundary zone.

A control unit for a vehicle is configured to detect a signalling installation ahead, wherein the signalling installation has at least one signal transmitter. The control unit is configured to ascertain digital map information indicating and/or allowing an association between the at least one signal transmitter and at least one possible direction of travel of the vehicle at the signalling installation. The control unit is further configured to operate a driving function of the vehicle on the basis of the digital map information.

In at least one embodiment, a computer-program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed to detect a performance threshold for one or more cameras is provided. The computer-program product includes instructions to capture a plurality of images from one or more cameras to compare an object within each captured image to a predetermined object to determine whether the object has been correctly identified and instructions to extract the object from each captured image. The computer-program product includes instructions to apply at least one gradient to each extracted object to generate a plurality of gradient images. The computer-program product includes instructions to compare the extracted object to the predetermined object and to determine whether the extracted object that is modified by the at least one gradient has been correctly identified. The computer-program product includes instructions to establish a performance threshold for the one or more cameras.

A vehicle gear control method includes acquiring a driving scene image while a vehicle is driving, and performing image recognition on the acquired driving scene image to obtain a driving scene label including at least one of a road attribute label, a traffic attribute label, or an environment attribute label. The method further includes acquiring driving status data and driving behavior data corresponding to the vehicle. The driving status data indicates at least one of vehicle speed and vehicle acceleration and the driving behavior data indicates at least one of a brake control input, an accelerator control input, or a throttle opening degree. The method further includes determining a gear shifting mode based on the driving status data, the driving behavior data, and the driving scene label. The gear shifting mode controls the vehicle to drive according to a corresponding gear at a corresponding gear shifting time.

Embodiments relate to systems, methods and computer readable media for parking monitoring in an urban area by image processing operations. Embodiments perform parking monitoring by capturing images of an urban area, comparing captured images with reference images to determine location and parking conditions. Embodiments processes captured images to detect licence plates, vehicles or parking signs to determine compliance of vehicles with parking conditions.

Enhanced ridehail systems and methods are disclosed herein. A method can include determining a pattern of a patterned object associated with a ridehail stand from images obtained by a vehicle camera, determining presence of a user at the ridehail stand using the images when at least a portion of the patterned object is being obscured by the user or when the user is detected using a sensor of the vehicle, and causing the vehicle to stop at the ridehail stand when the presence of the user is determined.

The present invention relates to vehicle systems to selectively record audio and video around a vehicle using a plurality of cameras and microphones dispersed on the exterior of the vehicle. The cameras and microphones are selectively activated using a pair of paddles installed on either side of the steering wheel. Audio and video obtained by the cameras and microphones are displayed through an electronic dashboard and can be stored in an internal memory. In one embodiment, the system detects emergency situations and automatically contacts one or more emergency services. The electronic dashboard is configured to connect to an electronic device for transmitting recorded audio and video. The invention can be integrated into a vehicle during manufacturing of the vehicle or added to a vehicle as an aftermarket system. The invention can also be used by law enforcement to detect emergencies and illegal activity.

A method for processing an image is presented. The method locates a subject and an object of a subject-object interaction in the image. The method determines relative weights of the subject, the object, and a context region for classification. The method further classifies the subject-object interaction based on a classification of a weighted representation of the subject, a weighted representation of the object, and a weighted representation of the context region.

A method for assisting a driver to drive a vehicle in a safer manner includes capturing images of road in front of the vehicle, and identifying a traffic sign in the images. A first image frame is captured at a first time and a second image frame is captured at a later second time when the images do comprise the traffic sign. A change in size or other apparent change of the traffic sign from the first image frame to the second image frame is determined, and conformity or non-conformity with a predetermined rule is then determined. The traffic sign can be analyzed and recognized to trigger the vehicle to perform an action accordingly when conformity is found. A device providing assistance with driving is also provided.

A method and system for determining a geographical location and orientation of a vehicle travelling through a road network is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining, from one or more cameras associated with the vehicle travelling through the road network, a sequence of images reflecting the environment of the road network on which the vehicle is travelling, wherein each of the images has an associated camera location at which the image was recorded. A local map representation representing an area of the road network on which the vehicle is travelling is then generated using at least some of the obtained images and the associated camera locations. The generated local map representation is compared with a section of a reference map, the reference map section covering the area of the road network on which the vehicle is travelling, and the geographical location and orientation of the vehicle within the road network is determined based on the comparison. Methods and systems for generating and/or updating an electronic map using data obtained by a vehicle travelling through a road network represented by the map are also disclosed.