Computer architecture and implementation of vision-based real-time lane sensing

Lane sensing is the detection of lane boundaries from a video image of the roadway and the determination of the vehicle´s position and orientation with respect to the lane. The detection of lane boundaries involves the digital processing of a roadway image to bring out points comprising the lane edge and a search of the processed images to find those points. Lane sensing supports several other functions, including collision warning, collision avoidance, driving performance monitoring and lane control. This paper describes the implementation of the two algorithms developed to achieve lane sensing in real-time on board a vehicle. This required developing the computer architecture, electronics and software to perform the processing steps in the algorithms. Attention was given to multitasking, multiprocessing and interprocess communication. In particular, use of the VME bus provides an open architecture and the disc-based real-time operating system provides multitasking and a flexible environment. The lane sensing system was installed in a vehicle and the real-time implementation was demonstrated on a test track and limited access highways