A real-time versatile roadway path extraction and tracking on an FPGA platform

This paper presents an algorithm for roadway path extraction and tracking and its implementation in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device. The implementation is particularly suitable for use as a core component of a Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system, which requires high-performance digital image processing as well as low-cost semiconductor devices, appropriate for the high volume production of the automotive market. The FPGA technology proved to be a proper platform to meet these two contrasting requirements. The proposed algorithm is specifically designed to be completely embedded in FPGA hardware to process wide VGA resolution video sequences at 30 frames per second. The main contributions of this work lie in (i) the proper selection, customization and integration of the main functions for road extraction and tracking to cope with the addressed application, and (ii) the subsequent FPGA hardware implementation as a modular architecture of specialized blocks. Experiments on real road scenario video sequences running on the FPGA device illustrate the good performance of the proposed system prototype and its ability to adapt to varying common roadway conditions, without the need for a per-installation calibration procedure.