Fast and precise localization at stop intersections

This article presents a practical solution for fast and precise localization of a vehicle´s position and orientation with respect to stop sign controlled intersections based on video sequences and mapped data. It consists of two steps. First, an intersection map is generated offline based on street-level imagery and GPS data, collected by a vehicle driving through an intersection from different directions. The map contains both landmarks for localization and information about stop line positions. This information is used in the second step to precisely and efficiently derive a vehicle´s pose in real-time when approaching a mapped intersection. At this point, we only need coarse GPS information to be able to load the proper map data. The experimental results show this approach is able to successfully localize a vehicle at stop intersections with decimeter accuracy under various weather conditions and after several months between the map data collection and the test drive. The proposed method enables a variety of functions for future driver assistance systems, such as stop line violation warning, advanced Adaptive Cruise Control/ Traffic Jam Assist functions in cities, or autonomous driving.