Method and apparatus for in-vehicle augmented reality visualization of sensor range and field-of-view

Abstract

Some embodiments of a method disclosed herein may include: receiving a predicted driving route, sensor ranges of sensors on an autonomous vehicle (AV), and sensor field-of-view (FOV) data; determining whether minimum sensor visibility requirements are met along the predicted driving route; predicting blind areas along the predicted driving route, wherein the predicted blind areas are determined to have potentially diminished sensor visibility; and displaying an augmented reality (AR) visualization of the blind areas using an AR display device.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving sensor ranges of sensors on a vehicle and sensor field-of-view (FOV) data;   predicting blind areas along a predicted driving route, wherein the predicted blind areas are determined to have potentially diminished sensor visibility; and   displaying an augmented reality (AR) visualization of the blind areas using an AR display device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a partially-autonomous vehicle with at least one of a manual mode or a driver assist mode. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a fully-autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving map data; and   updating the blind areas,   wherein updating the blind areas comprises comparing the received map data with local dynamic map data.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving blind area information from a second vehicle; and   determining that the second vehicle is in a blind area of the predicted blind areas based on the blind area information.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 responsive to determining that the second vehicle is in the blind area of the predicted blind areas, displaying an indication that the second vehicle is in the blind area.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying blind area reduction techniques; and   responsive to identifying blind area reduction techniques, moving the vehicle from a first position to a second position.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the blind area reduction techniques comprise at least one of repositioning the vehicle or adjusting an orientation of one of the sensors. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein predicting blind areas comprises determining visibility areas at a plurality of locations along the predicted driving route. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein determining visibility areas comprises simulating sensor visibility at the plurality of locations along the predicted driving route using three-dimensional (3D) map data. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein predicting blind areas comprises continually estimating locations of blind areas based on a plurality of sensor readings. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 tracking an orientation of the vehicle,   wherein predicting blind areas is based on the orientation of the vehicle.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the AR visualization of the blind areas comprises projecting the AR visualization using an in-vehicle augmented reality projection system to display the AR visualization. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the AR visualization of the blind areas comprises overlaying highlighting on a map indicating the blind areas. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the AR visualization of the blind areas comprises displaying an outline of areas on a map indicating the blind areas. 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and   a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that are operative, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to:
 receive sensor ranges of sensors on a vehicle and sensor field-of-view (FOV) data; 
 predict blind areas along a predicted driving route, wherein the predicted blind areas are determined to have potentially diminished sensor visibility; and 
 display an augmented reality (AR) visualization of the blind areas using an AR display device. 
   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a set of sensors; and display device.   
     
     
         19 - 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein blind areas with potentially diminished sensor visibility comprises regions in which the sensors on the vehicle are unable to detect potential hazards. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein blind area information comprises position and orientation of one or more of the predicted blind areas. 
     
     
         27 . A method comprising:
 receiving a predicted driving route, sensor ranges of sensors on a vehicle, and sensor field-of-view (FOV) data;   determining whether minimum sensor visibility requirements are met along the predicted driving route;   predicting blind areas along the predicted driving route, wherein the predicted blind areas are determined to have potentially diminished sensor visibility; and   displaying an augmented reality (AR) visualization of the blind areas using an AR display device.