Multitype lane markers recognition using local edge direction

This paper proposes a lane recognition algorithm which is able to find lane markers regardless of their types such as white lines, raised pavement markers, etc. The algorithm utilizes the characteristics that the lane markers converge to the focus of expansion and the lane markers have edge points towards the focus of expansion. Many edge points toward the focus of expansion are located on the lane boundaries where the lane markers exist. Hence, the algorithm uses only the edge points whose direction is towards the focus of expansion. Each edge direction is computed by only near-neighbor elements rather than continuous line segments in order to detect lane markers even if their shapes are not continuous lines. In the case of the raised pavement markers, experimental results show that the average processing time is under 100 ms and the recognition rate is over 96%.