TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter described herein generally relates to vehicles and, more particularly, to systems and methods for roadway obstruction detection.

BACKGROUND

Traffic reporting systems that report traffic disruptions (e.g., traffic jams due to high vehicle volume, road closures, etc.) to vehicles or mobile devices have become more common in recent years. One weakness of conventional traffic reporting systems is that they sometimes fail to capture and report traffic disruptions caused by sudden, unexpected roadway obstructions such as a foreign object that has fallen from a truck onto the roadway, a stalled vehicle, a temporary barricade (e.g., due to construction or an accident), or one or more vehicles associated with an accident, including emergency vehicles, that are blocking one or more lanes.

SUMMARY

An example of a system for roadway obstruction detection is presented herein. The system comprises one or more processors and a memory communicably coupled to the one or more processors. The memory stores an obstruction monitoring module including instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to receive information pertaining to a potential roadway obstruction. The obstruction monitoring module also includes instructions to determine that additional information regarding the potential roadway obstruction is needed to identify the potential roadway obstruction. The memory also stores an obstruction characterization module that includes instructions to select one or more vehicles from a plurality of vehicles based, at least in part, on their proximity to the potential roadway obstruction and their sensor capabilities. The obstruction characterization module also includes instructions to determine that the potential roadway obstruction is a specific type of roadway obstruction based, at least in part, on additional information regarding the potential roadway obstruction received from at least one of the selected one or more vehicles.

Another embodiment is a non-transitory computer-readable medium for roadway obstruction detection and storing instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to receive information pertaining to a potential roadway obstruction. The instructions also cause the one or more processors to determine that additional information regarding the potential roadway obstruction is needed to identify the potential roadway obstruction. The instructions also cause the one or more processors to select one or more vehicles from a plurality of vehicles based, at least in part, on their proximity to the potential roadway obstruction and their sensor capabilities. The instructions also cause the one or more processors to determine that the potential roadway obstruction is a specific type of roadway obstruction based, at least in part, on additional information regarding the potential roadway obstruction received from at least one of the selected one or more vehicles.

In another embodiment, a method of roadway obstruction detection is disclosed. The method comprises receiving information pertaining to a potential roadway obstruction. The method also includes determining that additional information regarding the potential roadway obstruction is needed to identify the potential roadway obstruction. The method also includes selecting one or more vehicles from a plurality of vehicles based, at least in part, on their proximity to the potential roadway obstruction and their sensor capabilities. The method also includes determining that the potential roadway obstruction is a specific type of roadway obstruction based, at least in part, on additional information regarding the potential roadway obstruction received from at least one of the selected one or more vehicles.

