Words? |? path
Recently, Apple applied for a new patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which will help solve the problem of inaccurate vehicle positioning in cities.
The positioning equipment designed and manufactured by Apple based on this patent includes global navigation and positioning system (GNSS), vehicle position sensor and vehicle computing system, and can also be used in conjunction with smart car key cards and car keys. This kind of equipment can deal with the problem of poor navigation signals between "urban canyons" and outdoor areas encountered in vehicle navigation.
Urban canyon problem refers to the problem of poor network and inaccurate positioning information caused by navigation and network signal interference when it is located in a city with many high-rise buildings.
It is understood that Apple has applied for a number of vehicle positioning and navigation patents, including a patent named "Advanced Vehicle Access and Control System" in 201,a patent adding segmented navigation to CarPlay in 20 18 and a patent named "Based on Automatic Learning and Navigation and Positioning System" in 20 19.
1. Has Apple applied for a new positioning patent? It can solve the problem of poor urban navigation signals.
Recently, Apple applied for a new patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and based on this patent, it designed and manufactured a positioning device, which can solve the problem of "urban canyon" encountered by vehicles in navigation and the problem of poor navigation signal in wild areas.
Apple's navigation patent in 2020 with photos
Urban canyon problem refers to the problem that vehicles or individuals located on urban roads with many tall buildings are easily disturbed by signals when surfing the Internet or receiving navigation signals, resulting in poor network and inaccurate positioning information.
Based on the new patent, Apple has made a positioning device, which includes global navigation and positioning system (GNSS), vehicle position sensor and on-board computer system (including five navigation stack modules, namely five RAM data storage areas, the more the number, the stronger the computing power), and can also be used in conjunction with smart car key cards and car keys.
Apple claims that this positioning device can identify unreliable GPS location data, for example, when a vehicle is about to enter a known "urban canyon" area, it can be judged that its location information is unreliable (inaccurate).
After determining that the vehicle position information is unreliable, the equipment starts the prediction mode, which takes the position change sensor as the estimation means, collects the driving direction and distance information of the vehicle, and then calculates with the last known accurate position information, so that more accurate position information can be obtained than GPS. When it is recognized that the vehicle is about to leave the "urban canyon" area, it will automatically exit the prediction mode and switch to the standard mode.
Second, can Apple's positioning device learn? The latest patent uses five navigation stack modules.
It is understood that up to now, Apple has applied for a number of car navigation patents, of which the earliest one is known at 20 1 1.
On 20 1 1 year, Apple applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office for a patent called "Advanced Vehicle Access Control System". The main content of this patent is that vehicles can be accessed in various ways, including access keys, access vouchers, access information, encryption keys, data signed by encryption keys and so on. And the vehicle can be roughly positioned through the global navigation and positioning system.
Of course, the navigation function is not the main content of this patent, otherwise the words navigation and positioning will be added to the patent name.
In 2065438+2008, Apple applied for another patent, adding the ability of segmented navigation to the navigation map function of CarPlay.
CarPlay segmented navigation
In 20 19, Apple applied for a new patent called "Learning Positioning Device Based on Navigation Positioning System".
This patent of "learning positioning equipment based on navigation and positioning system" has three navigation stack modules, which can rely on global navigation and positioning system to locate vehicles more accurately, and has begun to solve the problem of "urban canyon".
Due to the small number of navigation stack modules, the approximate position of the vehicle can only be estimated according to the parameters provided by the global navigation and positioning system, but it can not provide high-precision information of the vehicle position.
Recently, Apple's latest navigation patent has increased the number of internal navigation stack modules to five, which can provide high-precision positioning information for vehicles.
Apple 20 19 Automobile Safety Lock Patent with Drawings
3. Will Apple invest 1000 billion RMB to develop cars? 70 patents have been obtained.
Since 20 17, in addition to navigation patents, Apple has also applied for more than 70 patents on detection means and vehicle structure of self-driving cars, most of which are related to self-driving cars.
Automobile patents obtained by Apple since 20 19.
At present, the autopilot sensor needs high light when identifying the objects around the vehicle. At night, lights, street lamps and other light sources are mixed together, and the recognition environment of sensors is extremely complicated. In addition, the irradiation distance and range of automobile lights are strictly restricted by laws and regulations and cannot be changed at will, so the role of autopilot sensors at night is greatly reduced.
Apple uses night vision camera, near-infrared sensor and long-wave infrared sensor to cooperate with each other, which has doubled the detection distance of automatic driving at night. Even if it is applied to ordinary cars, Apple's patent can improve the safety of driving at night.
Apple patented night detection method with photos
In terms of vehicle structure, Apple applied for the patent of active suspension and upward door opening.
Apple's patent to open the door with photos.
Of course, Apple's investment in the automotive field is also huge.
According to the investor forecast report released by Morgan Stanley, a research institution, Apple will invest 654.38+09 billion US dollars (654.38+03 billion RMB) in R&D funds this year for automobile projects, while the global R&D funds for the automobile industry are between 80 billion US dollars and 654.38+00 billion US dollars (about 560 billion to 700 billion RMB).
In addition, compared with five years ago, Apple's R&D expenditure on automobile projects has increased by more than $654.38 billion. In other words, Apple's investment in automobile projects has doubled in five years.
Conclusion: Apple will promote the technological progress of self-driving cars.
Judging from Apple's investment and patents in the automotive field, Apple is drawing a blueprint for its own company's self-driving cars.
However, since Apple put forward its own car-making plan, this process has not been smooth sailing. As a technology company, it is inevitable that you will encounter some problems when you just set foot in the automobile field. Apple adjusted its development strategy in time, starting with automobile technology and doing what it is good at, step by step, and has achieved initial results.
In addition, judging from Apple's huge investment and achievements, Apple will not be limited to the current CarPlay. As the difficulties in positioning and detection of autonomous driving technology are gradually solved, Apple may promote the progress and development of autonomous vehicles by virtue of its own technological advantages.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.