Patent ID: 8890951

Claim:
Method for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle utilizing analysis of an image generated by a camera device located upon the vehicle, the method comprising: monitoring the image; identifying through patch-based clear path detection analysis of the image from a plurality of candidate patches a first patch within the image that indicates a not clear path, wherein the analysis includes a non-pixelated analysis comprising: applying a feature detection filter to each candidate patch for generating a feature-based response, comparing the feature-based response generated for each candidate patch to a predetermined threshold response, and classifying each candidate patch as corresponding to one of a clear path and an interesting feature indicating an object upon the roadway based on the comparing: determining whether one of the candidate patches is classified as corresponding to the interesting feature, and if patch is classified as corresponding to the interesting feature, identifying the candidate patch as the first patch; analyzing the first patch through patch smoothing; invalidating the first patch based upon the analyzing the first patch through patch smoothing; utilizing the invalidated first patch to define the clear path of travel for the vehicle; and utilizing the clear path of travel to navigate the vehicle.