Abstract: An environment of an ego vehicle is physically sensed and sensor data is produced. A representation of the environment is generated. The representation includes a plurality of representation segments each of which corresponds to a limited area of the environment. Characteristic information is generated for at least a part of the limited areas of the environment and the characteristic information is assigned to the representation segment which corresponds to the respective area of the environment. Furthermore, future or past movement behavior for a traffic object is estimated and characteristic information for at least one limited area of the environment is inferred based upon the estimated movement behavior. This characteristic information is assigned to the representation segment corresponding to the respective area of the environment and an evaluation is performed for determining a preferred path for the ego vehicle. An assistance signal based on the determined path is output.

Abstract: An environment of an ego vehicle is physically sensed and sensor data is produced. A representation of the environment is generated. The representation includes a plurality of representation segments each of which corresponds to a limited area of the environment. Characteristic information is generated for at least a part of the limited areas of the environment and the characteristic information is assigned to the representation segment which corresponds to the respective area of the environment. Furthermore, future or past movement behavior for a traffic object is estimated and characteristic information for at least one limited area of the environment is inferred based upon the estimated movement behavior. This characteristic information is assigned to the representation segment corresponding to the respective area of the environment and an evaluation is performed for determining a preferred path for the ego vehicle. An assistance signal based on the determined path is output.