US-12626596-B2 - Systems and methods for increasing awareness of unexpected vulnerable road users

Abstract

Techniques for increasing awareness regarding unexpected vulnerable road users (VRUs) within an environment of a vehicle are provided. An example method comprises detecting, by a system onboard a vehicle and comprising a processor, a vulnerable road user (VRU) located within an environment of the vehicle. The method further comprises determining, by the system, a probability representative of a degree to which the VRU is expected to be located within the environment, and rendering, by the system, notification data regarding the VRU via an electronic output device located on or within the vehicle based on the probability being below a threshold probability.

Inventors

• Henrik Segesten

Assignees

• VOLVO CAR CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240822

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A system onboard a vehicle, comprising: a non-transitory memory that stores computer executable components; and a processor that executes at least one of the computer executable components that: detects a vulnerable road user (VRU) located within an environment of the vehicle; classifies an environment type of the environment from a group of environment types comprising a rural environment type and an urban environment type; determines, based on the environment type, a probability representative of a degree to which the VRU would have been expected to be located within the environment; and renders notification data regarding the VRU via an electronic output device located on or within the vehicle based on the probability being below a threshold probability.
2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: classifies the VRU as being unexpected as opposed to expected based on the probability being below the threshold probability; and prevents rendering notifications regarding VRUs detected.
3. 3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the notification data identifies the VRU as being classified as unexpected.
4. 4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the notification data identifies a location of the VRU.
5. 5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: determines VRU information regarding a type of the VRU and a trajectory of the VRU, and wherein the notification data comprises the VRU information.
6. 6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: tracks unexpected VRU information regarding VRUs detected within the environment and classified as unexpected, wherein the unexpected VRU information comprises the VRU information.
7. 7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: notifies one or more other vehicles located within the environment regarding the VRU based on the probability being below the threshold probability.
8. 8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: determines the probability based on classification information associated with the environment indicating the probability.
9. 9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the environment comprises a road via which the vehicle is currently being driven, and wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: determines the probability based on classification information associated with the road indicating the probability.
10. 10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: determines the probability based on a type of the VRU and a time at which the VRU is detected.
11. 11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one of the computer executable components further: determines a measure of likelihood of the vehicle intersecting with the VRU based on a position of the VRU relative to the vehicle, a vehicle trajectory of the vehicle, and a VRU trajectory of the VRU; and renders the notification data based on the measure being above a threshold measure.
12. 12 . A method, comprising: detecting, by a system onboard a vehicle and comprising a processor, a vulnerable road user (VRU) located within an environment of the vehicle; classifying, by the system, an environment type of the environment from a group of environment types comprising a rural environment type and an urban environment type; determining, by the system, based on the environment type, a probability representative of a degree to which the VRU would have been expected to be located within the environment; and rendering, by the system, notification data regarding the VRU via an electronic output device located on or within the vehicle based on the probability being below a threshold probability.
13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: classifying, by the system, the VRU as being unexpected as opposed to expected based on the probability being below the threshold probability, wherein the notification data identifies the VRU as being classified as unexpected; and preventing, by the system, rendering of notifications regarding VRUs detected by the system and classified as expected.
14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: determining, by the system, VRU information regarding a location of the VRU, a type of the VRU and a trajectory of the VRU, and wherein the notification data comprises the VRU information.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising: tracking, by the system, unexpected VRU information regarding VRUs detected within the environment and classified as unexpected, wherein the unexpected VRU information comprises the VRU information.
16. 16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: notifying, by the system, one or more other vehicles located within the environment regarding the VRU based on the probability being below the threshold probability.
17. 17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the probability comprises determining the probability based on classification information associated with the environment indicating the probability.
18. 18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the environment comprises a road via which the vehicle is currently being driven, and wherein determining the probability comprises determining the probability based on classification information associated with the road indicating the probability, a type of the VRU and a time at which the VRU is detected.
19. 19 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor onboard a vehicle, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: detecting a vulnerable road user (VRU) located within an environment of the vehicle; classifying an environment type of the environment from a group of environment types comprising a rural environment type and an urban environment type; determining, based on the environment type, a probability representative of a degree to which the VRU would have been expected to be located within the environment; and rendering notification data regarding the VRU via an electronic output device located on or within the vehicle based on the probability being below a threshold probability.
20. 20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise: further comprising: classifying the VRU as being unexpected as opposed to expected based on the probability being below the threshold probability, wherein the notification data identifies the VRU as being classified as unexpected; and preventing rendering of notifications by the system regarding VRUs detected by the system and classified as expected.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosed subject matter relates to vehicles (e.g., transportation vehicles), and more particularly, to systems and methods for increasing awareness of unexpected vulnerable road users. BACKGROUND The term “vulnerable road user” (VRU) is used in the automative industry to refer to an individual who is at a higher risk of injury or fatality in traffic accidents due to their lack of protection compared to motor vehicle occupants. Vulnerable road users (VRUs) include many types of less protected traffic participants, such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, various forms of powered two-wheelers, and persons with disabilities or reduced mobility and orientation. In urban or built-up environments these types of traffic participants are expected and thus various measures tailored to such environments are typically implemented to protect VRUs, such as dedicated infrastructure improvements (e.g., dedicated bike lanes, pedestrian paths, crosswalks, pedestrian signals, traffic calming measures, protected intersections, enhanced street lighting and visibility indicators, etc.) and policy/regulation measures (e.g., reduced speed limits, increased penalties for traffic violations that endanger VRUs, zoning laws, etc.). However, in rural areas these types of traffic participants are usually not expected and their sudden appearance in many cases leads to dangerous situations or bad driving. The above-described background relating to issues associated with VRUs is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of some current issues and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other contextual information may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description. SUMMARY The following presents a summary to provide a basic understanding of one or more embodiments of the invention. This summary is not intended to identify key or critical elements or delineate any scope of the particular embodiments or any scope of the claims. Its sole purpose is to present concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. In one or more embodiments described herein, systems, devices, computer-implemented methods, apparatuses and/or computer program products are described that facilitate increasing awareness of unexpected VRUs. As alluded to above, techniques for protecting VRUs from being involved in traffic incidents in environments where they are not expected are desirable, and various embodiments are described herein to this end and/or other ends. According to an embodiment, a system onboard a vehicle can comprise a memory that stores computer-executable components, and a processor that executes the computer-executable components stored in the memory. The computer-executable components include a detection component that detects a VRU located within an environment of the vehicle, and an assessment component that determines a probability representative of a degree to which the VRU is expected to be located within the environment, and a notification component that renders notification data regarding the VRU via an electronic output device located on or within the vehicle based on the probability being below a threshold probability. In some implementations, the VRU assessment component classifies the VRU as being unexpected as opposed to expected based on the probability being below the threshold probability, and wherein the notification component prevents rendering notifications regarding VRUs detected by the detection component that are classified as expected by the VRU assessment component. The notification data can also identify the VRU as being classified as unexpected. In various implementations, the VRU assessment component determines VRU information regarding a location of the VRU, a type of the VRU and a trajectory of the VRU, and wherein the notification data comprises the VRU information. In some embodiments, the computer-executable components can further comprise a tracking component that tracks unexpected VRU information regarding VRUs detected within the environment and classified as unexpected, wherein the unexpected VRU information comprises the VRU information. In some implementations, the notification component can also notify one or more other vehicles located within the environment regarding the VRU based on the probability being below the threshold probability (e.g., using vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication technologies and/or vehicle to everything (V2X) communication technologies). In one or more embodiments, the VRU assessment component determines the probability based on classification information associated with the environment indicating the probability. In some implementations wherein the environment comprises a road via which the vehicle is currently being driven, the VRU assessment component determines the probability based on classification information associated with the road indicating the probability. The VRU assessm