Abstract

Look-ahead cruise controllers and other advanced driver assistance systems for heavy duty vehicles require high precision digital maps. This contribution presents a road grade estimation algorithm for creation of such maps based on Kalman filter fusion of vehicle sensor data and GPS positioning information. The algorithm uses data from multiple traversals of the same road to improve previously stored road grade estimates. Measurement data from three test vehicles and six road traversals have been used to evaluate the quality of the obtained road grade estimate compared to a known reference. The obtained final grade estimate compares favourably to one acquired from a specialized road grade measurement vehicle with a DGPS receiver and inertial measurement unit. QC 20120214