WO2021217184A1

WO2021217184A1 - System and method for detecting wrong way driving using a heat map

Info

Publication number: WO2021217184A1
Application number: PCT/US2021/070443
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ganesh Adireddy; Jonathan Stone
Original assignee: Continental Automotive Systems, Inc.
Priority date: 2020-04-22
Filing date: 2021-04-22
Publication date: 2021-10-28

Abstract

A method for providing a warning of a wrong way driver includes receiving, at a hardware processor, sensor data indicating a direction of travel and location of a first vehicle. The method also includes comparing the sensor data of the first vehicle with a heat map to determine when the first vehicle is traveling in an opposing direction to the travel direction of the heat map. The method also includes sending an alert to traffic participants proximate to the surface area and the first vehicle, where the traffic participants include the first vehicle.

Description

System And Method For Detecting Wrong Way Driving Using A

Heat Map

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] This disclosure relates to a system and a method for generating a traffic heat map associated with an area, for example, an intersection, road or highway.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Traffic on roads includes traffic participants, such as, but not limited to, vehicles, streetcars, buses, pedestrians, and any other moving object using public roads and walkways or stationary objects such as benches and trash cans. Organized traffic generally has well established priorities, lanes, right-of-way, and traffic control intersections. Traffic may be classified by type: heavy motor vehicle (e.g., car and truck), other vehicle (e.g., moped and bicycle), and pedestrian. It is desirable to have a system and method for monitoring the traffic to detect driving along roadways. SUMMARY

[0003] One general aspect includes a method for providing a warning of a wrong way driver. The method also includes receiving, at a hardware processor, sensor data indicating a direction of travel and location of a first vehicle. The method also includes comparing, with the hardware processor the sensor data of the first vehicle with a heat map to determine when the first vehicle is traveling in an opposing direction to the travel direction of the heat map. The method also includes sending an alert to traffic participants proximate to the surface area and the first vehicle, where the traffic participants include the first vehicle.

[0004] Implementations may include one or more of the following features. [0005] The method may include generating the heat map. The heat map indicates at least travel direction of the surface area.

[0006] The method may include updating the heat map to reflect a new second direction of travel based upon a second plurality of traffic participants traveling in the opposing direction of travel. [0007] The heat map may include multiple zones and, where each zone is assigned a direction of travel on the heat map. The direction of travel of the first vehicle is compared to the zone data on the heat map that corresponds to the vehicle location.

[0008] The method may include sending an alert to one of: a department of transportation, an emergency service, police, and a transportation business.

[0009] The hardware processor is remotely located from the monitoring area.

[0010] The method may include: sending the sensor data from the sensor to the hardware processor wirelessly with a communication device, receiving at the communication device the wrong way driver information from the hardware processor, and sending the alert wirelessly from the communication device.

[0011] Another general aspect includes a traffic monitoring system for warning a traffic participant. The traffic monitoring system also includes a hardware processor. [0012] The system also includes hardware memory in communication with the hardware processor, the hardware memory storing instructions that when executed on the hardware processor cause the hardware processor to perform operations may include: receiving, at a hardware processor, sensor data indicating a direction of travel and location of a first vehicle; comparing, with the hardware processor the sensor data of the first vehicle with a heat map to determine when the first vehicle is traveling in an opposing direction to the travel direction of the heat map; and sending an alert to traffic participants proximate to the surface area and the first vehicle, where the traffic participants include the first vehicle.

[0013] Implementations may include one or more of the following features.

[0014] The system may include instructions for generating the heat map. The heat map indicates at least travel direction of the surface area. [0015] The details of one or more implementations of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. l is a schematic view of an exemplary overview of a vehicle-traffic system. [0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an alternate exemplary configuration for the traffic monitoring system of Fig 1.

[0018] FIG. 3 A is a schematic view of an exemplary heat map in a first traffic situation.

[0019] FIG. 3B is a schematic view of an exemplary heat map in a second traffic situation.

[0020] FIG. 3C is a schematic view of an exemplary heat map in a third traffic situation.

[0021] FIG. 4A is a schematic view of a first exemplary detected warning scenario based on the heat map shown in FIG. 2A.

[0022] FIG. 4B is a schematic view of a second exemplary detected warning scenario based on the heat map shown in FIG. 2B.

[0023] FIG. 4C is a schematic view of a third exemplary detected warning scenario based on the heat map shown in FIG. 2C.

[0024] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an exemplary alert for the traffic monitoring system for detecting wrong way driving of Figs 1-4C.

[0025] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary method for generating a heat map for the vehicle-traffic system described herein.

[0026] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example computing device executing any system or methods described herein.

[0027] Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Autonomous and semi-autonomous driving has been gaining interest in the past few years. To increase transportation safety of autonomous and semi -autonomous vehicles, it is important to have an accurate idea of the infrastructure (i.e., roads, lanes, traffic signs, crosswalks, sidewalks, light posts, buildings, etc.) that is being used by these vehicles, and know the active participants (e.g., vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) using the infrastructure. A vehicle-traffic system as described below quantifies this information as a heat map, which may be used by the autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to improve driving accuracy and thus transportation safety. [0029] Referring to FIGS. 1-2B, a vehicle-traffic system 100 includes a traffic monitoring system 110 that includes a computing device (or hardware processor) 112 (e.g., central processing unit having one or more computing processors) in communication with non-transitory memory or hardware memory 114 (e.g., a hard disk, flash memory, random-access memory) capable of storing instructions executable on the computing processor(s) 112. The traffic monitoring system 110 includes a sensor system 120. The sensor system 120 includes one or more sensors 122a-n positioned at one or more roads or road intersections, herein after referred to as a monitor area 10, and configured to sense one or more traffic participants 102, 102a-n. Traffic participants 102, 102a-n may include, but are not limited to, vehicles 102a, pedestrians and bicyclists 102b, user devices 102c. In some implementations, the user device 102c is any computing device capable of communicating with the sensors 122. The user device 102c may include, but is not limited to, a mobile computing device, such as a laptop, a tablet, a smart phone, and a wearable computing device (e.g., headsets and/or watches). The user device 102c may also include other computing devices having other form factors, such as a gaming device. User devices 102c that are located within vehicles 102, 102a-n may be detected by the sensor system 120 and used to communicate with operators and passengers within vehicles 102, 102a-n that do not have capability themselves.

[0030] In some implementations, the one or more sensors 122a-n may be positioned to capture data 124 associated with a specific area 10, where each sensor 122a-n captures data 124 associated with a portion of the area 10. As a result, the sensor data 126 associated with each sensor 122a-n includes sensor data 126 associated with the entire area 10. In some examples, the sensors 122a-n are positioned within the monitor area 10, for example, each sensor 122a-n is positioned on a corner of the monitored area 10 such as an intersection, roadway, freeway, etc. to view the traffic participants 102 or supported by a traffic light. The sensors 122 may include, but are not limited to, Radar, Sonar, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, which can entail optical remote sensing that measures properties of scattered light to find range and/or other information of a distant target), HFL (High Flash LIDAR), LADAR (Laser Detection and Ranging), cameras (e.g., monocular camera, binocular camera). Each sensor 120 is positioned at a location where the sensor 120 can capture sensor data 126 associated with the traffic participants 102, 102a-c at the specific location. Therefore, the sensor system 120 analyses the sensor data 126 captured by the one or more sensors 122-n. The analysis of the sensor data 126 includes the sensor system 120 identifying one or more traffic participants 102 and determining one or more attributes 106, 106a-n associated with each traffic participant 102. The traffic attributes 106, 106a-n, may include, but are not limited to, the location of the traffic participant 102 (e.g., in a coordinate system including the direction of travel), a speed associated with the traffic participant 102, a type of the traffic participant 102 (e.g., vehicles 102a, pedestrians and bicyclists 102b, user devices 102c, user device 102c located in a vehicle 102), and other attributes of each traffic participant 102 within the monitor area 10.

[0031] The traffic monitoring system 110 executes a heat map generator 130 that generates a heat map 200, 200a, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, based on the analyzed sensor data 126 received from the sensor system 120. Therefore, the sensors 122a-n capture sensor data 126 associated with the monitor area 10, such as a road or intersection, then the sensor system 120 analyses the received sensor data 126.

Following, the heat map generator 130 determines a traffic heat map 200a of the respective area based on the analyzed sensor data 126. The heat map 200a is based on an occurrence of an object or traffic participant 102, 102a-c within the specific area 10. As the number of traffic participants 102, 102a-c increases within the area 10, a heat-index associated with the area 10 increases as well. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a path of each traffic participant 102, 102a-c is shown, and the heat-index of each path increases when the number of traffic participants 102, 102a-c taking that path increases. No a- priori information about the area 10 is needed by the traffic monitoring system 110 since all relevant information, such as sensor metadata (i.e., sensor location, for example, a relative position of each sensor 122, 122a-n in a coordinate system and/or with respect to one another) associated with each sensor 122, 122a-n are known and the received sensor data 126 is captured and collected. Therefore, the traffic monitoring system 110 generates the heat map 200a to understand the geometry and geography of the area based on the received sensor data 126 associated with each of the sensors 122a-n.

[0032] Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is the flow of information from a vehicle to any other device, and vice versa. More specifically, V2X is a communication system that includes other types of communication such as, V2I (vehicle-to- infrastructure), V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), V2P (vehicle-to-pedestrian), V2D (vehicle-to- device), and V2G (vehicle-to-grid). V2X is developed with the vision towards safety, mainly so that the vehicle is aware of its surroundings to help prevent collision of the vehicle with other vehicles or objects. In some implementations, the traffic monitoring system 110 communicates with the traffic participants 102 via V2X by way of a V2X communication 104, and the traffic participant 102 sends one or more attributes of the traffic participant 102 to the traffic monitoring system 110 by way of the V2X communication 104. Therefore, the traffic monitoring system 110 may analyze the V2X communication to determine one or more attributes 106 associated with the respective traffic participant 102.

[0033] In some examples, the traffic monitoring system 110 is in communication with a remote system 150 via the network 140. The remote system 150 may be a distributed system (e.g., a cloud environment) having scalable/elastic computing resources 152 and/or storage resources 154. The network 140 may include various types of networks, such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and/or the Internet. In some examples, the traffic monitoring system 110 executes on the remote system 150 and communicates with the sensors 122 via the network 140. In this case, the sensors 122 are positioned at the monitor area 10 to capture the sensor data 126. Additionally, in this case, the traffic participants 102 may communicate with the traffic monitoring system 110 via the network 140, such that the traffic participants 102 send the traffic monitoring system 110 one or more attributes 106 associated with the traffic participant 102.

[0034] Learning Monitor Area Attributes from Sensor Data

[0035] In some implementations, the heat map generator 130 learns patterns of traffic participants 102, 102a-c based on the analyzed sensor data 126 received from the sensor system 120 (including the attributes 106 associated with each traffic participant 102). Additionally, in some examples, the heat map generator 130 determines a map of the area 10 based on the analyzed sensor data 126. For example, the heat map generator 130 determines a zone 210, 210a-n such as vehicle lane/pathways 210, 210a-n, a pedestrian lane 220, a designated and/or common pedestrian crosswalk, or other areas 230 based on an average traffic participant attributes 106 in those lane limits by considering an occupancy probability threshold and cell movement probabilities. The heat map generator 130 may divide the heat map 200a into cells, and cell movement is indicative of a traffic participant 102 moving from one cell to another adjacent cell.

[0036] The heat map generator 130 identifies one or more boundaries, to define the zones 210, 210a-n such as a traffic lanes 210, 210a-n (e.g., left, straight, right), a pedestrian lane or a sidewalk, a cycling lane (not shown), etc. based on the received sensor data 126. For example, the traffic monitoring system 110 may determine a boundary to be a traffic lane 210 based on a speed of the traffic participant 102 (e.g., the speed of the traffic participant 102 determined based on the sensor data 126 as one of the participant attributes 106).

[0037] In some examples, the heat map generator 130 generates the heat map 200a and divides the heat map 200a into cells (not shown). Some cells may be associated with cell attributes, such as crosswalk, pedestrian traffic light, cyclist lane, vehicle lane.

[0038] In some implementations, by monitoring the intersection/detection area 10, the heat map generator 130 can identify traffic direction for each of the zones 210, 210a- n. For example, the heat map generator 130 may monitor the position and speed of traffic participants 102, 102a-n, over a period of time and identify the number of traffic lanes, and how many go in each direction. Further, if the heat map generator 130 observes a traffic participants 103a travelling in the wrong direction within the monitor area 10, the heat map generator 130 may decide that traffic participant 103a is travelling in the wrong direction.

[0039] Therefore, a heat map 200, 200a-n may have multiple zones 210, 210a-n which may have multiple correct directions of travel, e.g. parallel but opposing directions on a two-lane highway, additionally perpendicular directions at an intersection. Once the heat map 200, 200a has been created and the different zones 210, 210a-n have been identified the traffic system 100 may monitor the DOT for each traffic participant 102, 102a-n within each zone 210, 210a-n to identify any wrong way drivers 103, 103a-n, within that particular zone 201, 210a-n

[0040] Identifying the zones 210, 210a-n may use known methods, such as convex hull point comparisons identifying the vertices of the polygonal area detected by the sensor(s) 122, 122a-n as the edges and perform. The identification of the zones 210, 210a-n is based upon the velocity of the traffic participants, including x, y, heading of the traffic participant on a system defined coordinate system. The accuracy of the definitions between zones 210, 210a-n is therefore based on the accuracy of the sensors 122, 122a-n and the distance between the zones.

[0041] The heat map 200, 200a may recalibrate. In one embodiment, if the heat map generator 130 observes the repeated occurrence of traffic participants 103, 103a-n travelling in the wrong direction over a time period of time at the same part of the monitor area 10, the heat map generator 130 may decide that traffic lane 210, 210a-n has changed direction, e.g. due to construction. In this manner the heat map 200, 200a may recalibrate over time. The heat map generator 130 may communicate the information with the traffic participants 103, 103a-n that are entering a traffic lane 210, 210a-n in the wrong direction, whether such traffic lane 210, 210a-n is usually or temporarily in that direction. The heat map generator 130 may also communicate the information with the traffic participants 102, 102a-n that are already in the traffic lane 210, 210a-n in the correct direction that a traffic participate 103a is approaching from the wrong direction of travel DOTa-n.

[0042] The heat map generator 130 may store the heat map 200a in hardware memory 114 and continuously update the heat map 200a while receiving sensor data 126. Additionally, the heat map generator 130 analyses the heat map 200a over time and generates traffic data and traffic patterns associated with each class of traffic participants 102 based on the stored heat maps 200. In some examples, the heat map generator 130 analyses the traffic data and detects occurrences such as wrong travel direction of a traffic participant 103a within the monitor area 10.

[0043] In some implementations, the heat map generator 130 determines that the travel direction DOTa-n of traffic participants 102 is different from a pattern of the traffic participants 102 previously identified (by the heat map generator 130 as stored in the memory 114). For example, the heat map generator 130 receives analyzed data 126 associated with an intersection 10. The heat map generator 130 determines that if the travel direction DOTa-n of vehicles 103a currently driving in the monitored area 10 is different than a previously identified direction of vehicles 102, 102a-n, then the heat map generator 130 may determine that such an occurrence is a wrong-way driver 103a.

[0044] Generating the heat map based on the sensor data

[0045] In some implementations, the heat map generator 130 analyses the received sensor data 126, 126 to monitor traffic and generate traffic patterns for the area 10. In addition, the heat map generator 130 may identify a traffic participant 102 as a vehicle 102a. The heat map generator 130 may generate the heat map 200a based on the type of traffic participant 102, for example, a vehicle heat map or a pedestrian heat map. The heat map generator 130 may also generate a heat map 200a including all traffic participants 102 which shows the classes of traffic participants 102.

[0046] In some examples, the traffic monitoring system 110 receives the sensor data 126 and the heat map generator 130 determines an average of the attributes of the moving traffic participants 102 that results in generating the heat map 200a. Moreover, the heat map generator 130 determines the average (and sigma) speed of each one of the traffic participants 102, the average (and sigma) acceleration of each one of the traffic participants 102, and existing stationary objects to determine the occupancy probability of the traffic participant 102 within each cell.

[0047] The heat map generator 130 may receive sensor data 126 associated with each traffic participant 102, 102a-c and associate attributes to each traffic participants 102. In some examples, the heat map generator 130 stores the received sensor data 126 and/or the analyses sensor data 126 (including the attributes 106) in the hardware memory 114. The heat map generator 130 may then execute a regression model on the hardware processor 112 in communication with the memory 114 to predict the position of each of the traffic participants 102, 102a-c in the monitor area 10 at a specific time. The regression model may predict the position of the traffic participants 102, 102a-c within a cell of the identified grid and or the movement of the traffic participant 102 towards a specific cell or an adjacent cell. The cell-based approach executed by the heat map generator 130 helps in estimating the probability of a traffic participant 102, 102a-n moving to an adjacent cell.

[0048] The generation of the heat map 200, 200a using the sensor data may be automatically recalibrated at preset reoccurring intervals, e.g once an hour, once a day, once a week, etc. Alternatively, the heat map 200, 200a may be manually activated to recalibrate. The manual recalibration of the heat map 200, 200a may be activated at the monitored area 10 or remotely activated.

[0049] Overlaying sensor data on the heat map

[0050] While the filtered sensor data is first used to generate the heat map, as described above, once the heat map is established current sensor data can be overlaid on the heat map to detect a vehicle 103, 103a-n traveling in a wrong direction, as described herein.

[0051] The sensor data has information for a specific vehicle 103a including the vehicle velocity Va, and the location of the vehicle 103a including the direction of travel, on the heat map 200a. By tracking the vehicle position and speed the system 110 can determine the probability that the vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction for the travel lane 210a-n that it is currently occupying.

[0052] Other conclusions may also be drawn by the hardware based on the various data. For example, if vehicles 103a-n are repeatedly determined with high probability to be traveling in the wrong direction for a travel lane 210, the system 110 may begin to repeatedly lower the probability until sufficient sensor data has been collected to update the travel direction DOTa-n on the heat map 200a. For example, if construction routes traffic down a travel lane 210a-n that is typically in the other direction at the beginning the heat map 200a will be in usual direction of travel DOTa-n, once it updates the heat map 200a will be consistent with the temporary direction of travel DOTa-n. In this instance, the system 110 provide this information to vehicles 102, 102a-n that that travel lane is not matching planned data which is usually occurring. The same process will occur in reverse when the travel lane 210a-n resumes the usual planned direction of travel DOTa-n.

[0053] The wrong way driver determination may happen using controllers at the detection area 10, or controllers with one or more of the sensors 122, 122a-n, or remotely on a back-end server. That is, the sensors data can be sent to a remote server, analyzed and the alert may be communicated to others and back to the detection area for further alert 104, 104a-n to those in the area. [0054] In FIG 5, the traffic monitoring system 110 detects when a wrong way vehicle 103a enters the roadway from an exit ramp 12 and the system alerts 104, 104a-n both the wrong way driver 103a and the at-risk vehicles’ drivers 102a-n downstream on the roadway 16. [0055] Additionally, such alerts may be broadcast from nearby communication sources, such as a dedicated short-range communication device, which may provide Wi Fi or other communication in the area 10 of the traffic monitoring system 110. These alerts may go to everyone in the area 10. Additional traffic participants, such as pedestrians and bicyclists may also receive such alerts 104, 104a-n via personal devices, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0056] The information/alert 104, 104a-n may also be sent via communications infrastructure, either wired or wireless, to others that may have use for such data, such as government transportation departments, emergency services, and other businesses involved in the transportation industry. [0057]

[0058] In another embodiment, when a wrong way vehicle 103b is already on the one-way road 16, heading in the opposite direction of traffic 102, 102a-n and the system 110 alerts both the wrong way driver 103b and the at-risk vehicles’ drivers 102, 102a-n downstream on the roadway. In this embodiment, the traffic monitoring system 110 could be used to monitor vehicle 103a as it continues on the roadway 16 without taking action to turn around.

[0059] A further embodiment,, would be the situation where multiple wrong way vehicles 103a-b are detected in the radar detection zone in parallel and the system 110 alerts both the wrong way drivers lOa-b and the at-risk vehicles’ drivers 102a-n downstream on the roadway 16. Again communication 104, 104a-n to the wrong way drivers 103a-b, to the at risk drivers 102a-n, and to others may be provided by way on an alert, such as shown in FIG. 5.

[0060] Embodiments not illustrated in FIGS. 4A-C, but relevant and helpful to elicit the use cases of such a system 110 include but are not limited to, deployments on one- way roadways in urban areas, service drive roadways and any other such roadway which is one-way or has an otherwise explicitly defined border or boundary between each direction of traffic.

[0061] Therefore, the traffic monitoring system 110 provides a system and method for informing at risk drivers of nearby wrong way vehicles with a very simple low cost solution with a scalable pervasive method of notification.

[0062] In the embodiment discussed above one heat map 200, 200a is generated by/for each sensor 122, 122a-n. Likewise, detection of the traffic participants 102, 102a- n is based upon monitoring and analyzing the detected area of each sensor 122, 122a-n. The monitored area 10 may be enlarged by using multiple sensors 122, 122a-n each covering different fields of view, which may overlap one another. However, the analysis of the sensor data 126 to detect the wrong way driver is performed for each sensor 122, 122a-n and heat map 200, 200a-n separately. The separate analysis of each heat map 200, 200a-n is then aggregated to provide an entire monitored area 10 for detection of a wrong way driver(s) 103, 103a-n. In this manner, the monitored area may be enlarged in areas where increased detection is needed, such as have greater zone coverage, multiple lanes of traffic, and intersections.

[0063] However, in another embodiment the sensor data 126 may be combined. The monitored area 10 may be a sum of each area detected by a specific sensor 122, 122a-n to generate one heat map 200 for the detected area. That is, the sensor data 126, 126a-n of all sensors with fields of view in the combined monitored area 10 may be combined and analyzed together.

[0064] FIG. 6 provides an example arrangement of operations for a method 600 for generating a heat map 200 of a monitor area 10 using the system 100 of FIGS. 1-2C. At block 602, the method 600 includes receiving, at a hardware processor 112, sensor data 126 from one or more sensors 122 in communication with the hardware processor 112 and positioned such that the surface area 10 is within a field of view of the one or more sensors 122. The attributes including at least a direction of travel.

[0065] At block 604, the method 600 includes identifying, at the hardware processor 112, a plurality of traffic participants 102, 102a-n and determining at least one attributes 106, 106a-n including at least a direction of travel. [0066] At block 606, generating, at the hardware processor 112, the heat map 200, 200a-n based on the at least one attributes 106, 106a-n of the plurality of the at least on traffic participant 102, 102a-n, wherein the heat map 200, 200a-n indicates at least travel direction of the surface area 10. [0067] At block 608, receiving, at a hardware processor 112, sensor data 126, 126a-n indicating a direction of travel and location of a first vehicle 102, 102a-n.

[0068] At block 610, comparing, with the hardware processor 112 the sensor data 126, 126a-n of the first vehicle 102, 102a-n with a heat map 200, 200a-n to determine when the first vehicle 102, 102a-n is traveling in an opposing direction to the travel direction of the heat map 200, 200a-n.

[0069] At block 612, sending an alert 104, 104a-n to at least one traffic participant 102, 102a-n proximate to the surface area 10 and the first vehicle 102, 102a-n, wherein the at least one traffic participant 102, 102a-n includes the first vehicle 102, 102a-n. [0070] The method may also include updating the heat map 200, 200a-n to reflect a new second direction of travel based upon a second plurality of traffic participants 102, 102a-n traveling in the opposing direction of travel.

[0071] The heat map 200, 200a-n may include multiple zones 210, 210a-n and, where each zone 210, 210a-n is assigned a direction of travel on the heat map 200, 200a-n. The direction of travel of the first vehicle 102, 102a-n is compared to the zones 210, 210a-n 126, 126a-n on the heat map 200, 200a-n that corresponds to the vehicle 102, 102a-n location.

[0072] The method may include sending an alert 104, 104a-n to one of: a department of transportation, an emergency service, police, and a transportation business. The hardware processor 112 is remotely located from the monitoring area 10. [0073] The method may include: sending the sensor data 126, 126a-n from the sensor

122, 122a-n to the hardware processor 112 wirelessly with a communication device; receiving at the communication device the wrong way driver 103a, 103a-n information from the hardware processor 112; and sending the alert 104, 104a-n wirelessly from the communication device. [0074] FIG. 7 is schematic view of an example computing device 700 that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document. The computing device 700 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed in this document.

[0075] The computing device 700 includes a processor 710, memory 720, a storage device 730, a high-speed interface/controller 740 connecting to the memory 720 and high-speed expansion ports 750, and a low speed interface/controller 760 connecting to low speed bus 770 and storage device 730. Each of the components 710, 720, 730, 740, 750, and 760, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate. The processor 710 can process instructions for execution within the computing device 700, including instructions stored in the memory 720 or on the storage device 730 to display graphical information for a graphical user interface (GUI) on an external input/output device, such as display 780 coupled to high speed interface 740. In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices 700 may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system). The computing devices 700 and the components thereof may be partially or completely remotely located from one another and/or the system performing the method processed on the computing device 700. Communication between the components of the computing device 700 may be through wired or wireless connection.

[0076] The memory 720 stores information non-transitorily within the computing device 700. The memory 720 may be a computer-readable medium, a volatile memory unit(s), or non-volatile memory unit(s). The non-transitory memory 720 may be physical devices used to store programs (e.g., sequences of instructions) or data (e.g., program state information) on a temporary or permanent basis for use by the computing device 700. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, flash memory and read-only memory (ROM) / programmable read-only memory (PROM) / erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) / electronically erasable programmable read- only memory (EEPROM) (e.g., typically used for firmware, such as boot programs). Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), phase change memory (PCM) as well as disks or tapes.

[0077] The storage device 730 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 700. In some implementations, the storage device 730 is a computer- readable medium. In various different implementations, the storage device 730 may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations. In additional implementations, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 720, the storage device 730, or memory on processor 710.

[0078] The high-speed controller 740 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 700, while the low speed controller 760 manages lower bandwidth intensive operations. Such allocation of duties is exemplary only. In some implementations, the high-speed controller 740 is coupled to the memory 720, the display 780 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to the high-speed expansion ports 750, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown). In some implementations, the low-speed controller 760 is coupled to the storage device 730 and low-speed expansion port 770. The low-speed expansion port 770, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet), may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.

[0079] The computing device 700 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 700a or multiple times in a group of such servers 700a, as a laptop computer 700b, or as part of a rack server system 700c. [0080] Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic and/or optical circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

[0081] These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product, non- transitory computer readable medium, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

[0082] Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Moreover, subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them. The terms “data processing apparatus”, “computing device” and “computing processor” encompass all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus. [0083] A computer program (also known as an application, program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

[0084] The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).

[0085] Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, to name just a few. Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

[0086] To provide for interaction with a user, one or more aspects of the disclosure can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, or touch screen for displaying information to the user and optionally a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user by sending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is used by the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on a user's client device in response to requests received from the web browser.

[0087] One or more aspects of the disclosure can be implemented in a computing system that includes a backend component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a frontend component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such backend, middleware, or frontend components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

[0088] The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In some implementations, a server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a client device (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving user input from a user interacting with the client device). Data generated at the client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can be received from the client device at the server.

[0089] While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular implementations of the disclosure. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable sub combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination. [0090] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multi-tasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0091] A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for providing a warning of a wrong way driver comprising: receiving, at a hardware processor, sensor data indicating a direction of travel and location of a first vehicle; comparing, with the hardware processor the sensor data of the first vehicle with a heat map to determine when the first vehicle is traveling in an opposing direction to the travel direction of the heat map; and sending an alert to traffic participants proximate to the surface area and the first vehicle, wherein the traffic participants include the first vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the heat map.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving, at a hardware processor, sensor data from at least one sensor in communication with the hardware processor and positioned such that the surface area is within a field of view of the at least one sensor; identifying, at the hardware processor, a plurality of traffic participants and determining at least one attributes including at least a direction of travel; and generating, at the hardware processor, the heat map based on the at least one attributes of the plurality of traffic participants, wherein the heat map indicates at least travel direction of the surface area.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising updating the heat map to reflect a new second direction of travel based upon a second plurality of traffic participants traveling in the opposing direction of travel.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the heat map comprises multiple zones and, wherein each zone is assigned a direction of travel on the heat map.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining which of the multiple zones the first vehicle is located in based upon the sensor data and wherein the direction of travel of the first vehicle is compared to the zone data on the heat map that corresponds to the vehicle location.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an alert to one of: a department of transportation, an emergency service, police, and a transportation business.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the hardware processor is remotely located from the monitoring area.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising: sending the sensor data from the sensor to the hardware processor wirelessly with a communication device; receiving at the communication device the wrong way driver information from the hardware processor; and sending the alert wirelessly from the communication device.

10. A traffic monitoring system for warning a traffic participant comprising: a hardware processor; and hardware memory in communication with the hardware processor, the hardware memory storing instructions that when executed on the hardware processor cause the hardware processor to perform operations comprising: receiving, at a hardware processor, sensor data indicating a direction of travel and location of a first vehicle; comparing, with the hardware processor the sensor data of the first vehicle with a heat map to determine when the first vehicle is traveling in an opposing direction to the travel direction of the heat map; and sending an alert to traffic participants proximate to the surface area and the first vehicle, wherein the traffic participants include the first vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising instructions for generating the heat map.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions for receiving, at a hardware processor, sensor data from at least one sensor in communication with the hardware processor and positioned such that the surface area is within a field of view of the at least one sensor; identifying, at the hardware processor, a plurality of traffic participants and determining at least one attributes including at least a direction of travel; and generating, at the hardware processor, the heat map based on the at least one attributes of the plurality of traffic participants, wherein the heat map indicates at least travel direction of the surface area.

13. The system of claim further comprising instructions for updating the heat map to reflect a new second direction of travel based upon a second plurality of traffic participants traveling in the opposing direction of travel.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the heat map comprises multiple zones and, wherein each zone is assigned a direction of travel on the heat map.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising instructions for determining which of the multiple zones the first vehicle is located in based upon the sensor data and wherein the direction of travel of the first vehicle is compared to the zone data on the heat map that corresponds to the vehicle location.

16. The system of claim 10, further comprising instructions for sending an alert to one of: a department of transportation, an emergency service, police, and a transportation business.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the hardware processor is remotely located from the monitoring area.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising instructions for: sending the sensor data from the sensor to the hardware processor wirelessly with a communication device; receiving at the communication device the wrong way driver information from the hardware processor; and sending the alert wirelessly from the communication device.