An Intelligent Roadway Reference System for Vehicle Lateral Guidance/Control

An Intelligent Vehicle/Highway System (IVHS) may require a multifunctional roadway reference system. This roadway reference system should help the vehicle locate its lateral and longitudinal position, and provide other information required for vehicle control. This reference system is defined as an Intelligent Roadway Reference System (IRRS). The California Program on Advanced Technology for the Highway (PATH) is developing an IRRS, consisting of roadway reference and vehicle sensing elements which can transmit necessary information for vehicle lateral guidance/control. The reference system, passive discrete markers that may code one or more bits of information, is installed in the center of the traffic lane. An on-board sensing system acquires the information when the vehicle passes over the reference and determines the vehicle deviation and the upcoming road geometry. This sensing/reference system may also provide information for other IVHS functions.