METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPERATING A VEHICLE FOR HIGHLY AUTOMATED DRIVING, AND VEHICLE FOR HIGHLY AUTOMATED DRIVING

A method for operating a vehicle for highly automated driving. The method includes a step of reading sensor data that comprise trip data of the vehicle from at least one acceleration sensor, at least one position sensor, and a velocity sensor, infrastructure data of infrastructure elements in a predefined environment of the vehicle from at least one environmental sensor, and object data of recognized traffic objects in the predefined environment from the environmental sensor. An environmental model for behavior planning and maneuver planning of the vehicle within the predefined environment is determined. The environmental model is determined by simultaneous localization and mapping using the sensor data and a factor graph into which the sensor data are integrated as factors. The environmental model is output to an interface to a planning device for behavior planning and maneuver planning of the vehicle.