Generating a Navigational Map

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for vehicle navigation. In one implementation, a host vehicle-based sparse map feature harvester system may include at least one processor programmed to receive a plurality of images captured by a camera onboard the host vehicle as the host vehicle travels along a road segment in a first direction, wherein the plurality of images are representative of an environment of the host vehicle; detect one or more semantic features represented in one or more of the plurality of images, the one or more semantic features each being associated with a predetermined object type classification; identify at least one position descriptor associated with each of the detected one or more semantic features; identify three-dimensional feature points associated with one or more detected objects represented in at least one of the plurality of images; receive position information, for each of the plurality of images, wherein the position information is indicative of a position of the camera when each of the plurality of images was captured; and cause transmission of drive information for the road segment to an entity remotely-located relative to the host vehicle, wherein the drive information includes the identified at least one position descriptor associated with each of the detected one or more semantic features, the identified three-dimensional feature points, and the position information.

1 - 134 . (canceled) 
     
     
         135 . A system for automatically generating a navigational map relative to one or more road segments, the system comprising;
 at least one processor programmed to:
 cause collection of first navigational information associated with an environment traversed by a host vehicle, wherein the first navigational information is associated with a first aspect; 
 determine, based on output associated with one or more sensors of the host vehicle, a location of the host vehicle; 
 determine whether the location of the host vehicle is at or within a predetermined distance from a geographical region of interest; 
 cause, based on the determination that the location of the host vehicle is at or within the predetermined distance from the geographical region of interest, collection of second navigational information associated with the environment traversed by the host vehicle, wherein the second navigational information includes a plurality of three-dimensional feature points and is associated with a second aspect that is different than the first aspect; 
 upload from the host vehicle at least one of the collected first navigational information or the collected second navigational information from the host vehicle; and 
 update the navigational map based on the uploaded at least one of the collected first navigational information or the collected second navigational information. 
   
     
     
         136 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the plurality of three-dimensional feature points are associated with one or more detected objects in the environment traversed by the host vehicle. 
     
     
         137 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein each of the plurality of three-dimensional feature points include an indicator of depth relative to the camera onboard the host vehicle. 
     
     
         138 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein each of the plurality of three-dimensional feature points include an X-Y-Z location relative to a real world origin. 
     
     
         139 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the plurality of three-dimensional feature points included in the second navigational information are a plurality of second three-dimensional feature points and the first navigational information includes a plurality of first three-dimensional feature points. 
     
     
         140 . The system of  claim 139 , wherein the first aspect is a first density level at which the first three-dimensional feature points are collected and the second aspect is a second density level at which the second three-dimensional feature points are collected, the second density level being greater than the first density level. 
     
     
         141 . The system of  claim 140 , wherein the second density level is at least two times greater than the first density level. 
     
     
         142 . The system of  claim 140 , wherein the second density level is at least five times greater than the first density level. 
     
     
         143 . The system of  claim 140 , wherein the second density level is at least ten times greater than the first density level. 
     
     
         144 . The system of  claim 139 , wherein the first aspect is a first type of features associated with the first three-dimensional feature points and the second aspect is a second type of features associated with the second three-dimensional feature points, the first type of features being different than the second type of features. 
     
     
         145 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the second aspect includes collecting the plurality of three-dimensional feature points and the first aspect includes not collecting three-dimensional feature points. 
     
     
         146 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:
 receive location information from the host vehicle; and   determine, based on the received location information, whether the host vehicle traveled within the geographical region of interest.   
     
     
         147 . The system of  claim 146 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to upload from the host vehicle the collected second navigational information based on a determination that the host vehicle traveled within the geographical region of interest. 
     
     
         148 . The system of  claim 146 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to transmit, to the host vehicle, instructions to discard the collected second navigational information based on a determination that the host vehicle did not travel within the geographical region of interest. 
     
     
         149 . The system of  claim 148 , wherein the determination that the host vehicle did not travel within the geographical region of interest is made after determining that the host vehicle approached to within the predetermined distance from the geographical region of interest and then moved away to at least the predetermined distance away from the geographical region of interest. 
     
     
         150 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the at least one of the collected first navigational information or the collected second navigational information is uploaded at a predetermined frequency according to a frequency rule. 
     
     
         151 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive and store both the first navigational information and the second navigational information. 
     
     
         152 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to request transmission of a subset of the first navigational information or the second navigational information collected by the host vehicle. 
     
     
         153 . The system of  claim 135 , wherein the location of the host vehicle is determined at predetermined time intervals. 
     
     
         154 . A computer-implemented method for automatically generating a navigational map relative to one or more road segments, comprising:
 causing collection of first navigational information associated with an environment traversed by a host vehicle, wherein the first navigational information is associated with a first aspect;   determining, based on output associated with one or more sensors of the host vehicle, a location of the host vehicle;   determining whether the location of the host vehicle is at or within a predetermined distance from a geographical region of interest;   causing, based on the determination that the location of the host vehicle is at or within the predetermined distance from the geographical region of interest, collection of second navigational information associated with the environment traversed by the host vehicle, wherein the second navigational information includes a plurality of three-dimensional feature points and is associated with a second aspect that is different than the first aspect;   uploading from the host vehicle at least one of the collected first navigational information or the collected second navigational information from the host vehicle; and   updating the navigational map based on the uploaded at least one of the collected first navigational information or the collected second navigational information.   
     
     
         155 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause at least one processor to:
 cause collection of first navigational information associated with an environment traversed by a host vehicle, wherein the first navigational information is associated with a first aspect;   determine, based on output associated with one or more sensors of the host vehicle, a location of the host vehicle;   determine whether the location of the host vehicle is at or within a predetermined distance from a geographical region of interest;   cause, based on the determination that the location of the host vehicle is at or within the predetermined distance from the geographical region of interest, collection of second navigational information associated with the environment traversed by the host vehicle, wherein the second navigational information includes a plurality of three-dimensional feature points and is associated with a second aspect that is different than the first aspect;   upload from the host vehicle at least one of the collected first navigational information or the collected second navigational information from the host vehicle; and   update the navigational map based on the uploaded at least one of the collected first navigational information or the collected second navigational information.