Multiple track 4D-road representation

In this paper we will present a geometric lane representation which enables a 4D-lane tracker to handle ambiguous, non-parallel and even crossing lane marking tracks in complex situations. The introduced geometry model contains lateral independent tracks which lie on top of the surface of a continuous shape that is formed like the road surface within a specific preview and is bent in horizontal, vertical and torsional way. Due to a more precise shape representation the association of measured to expected features is eased and therefore the approach leads to a noticeable improvement of stability of the tracking system. The introduced state description achieves a decoupling of dynamic ego movement and stationary lane markings to enhance the robustness furthermore. Based on the increased number of estimated tracks the computing effort of the feature extraction rises linearly and the estimation effort approximately quadratically. This challenge is met by a selective innovation mechanism which allows a comparable calculation time and is presented below as well.