A landmark used to effectively determine the location of an autonomous
vehicle, and a self-localization apparatus and method using the landmark
are provided. In the self-localization method, first, first and second
outer line information and shape information are extracted from a
landmark image received from a camera. Next, a projective invariant is
calculated from the shape information and stored in a hash table.
Thereafter, the calculated projective invariant is compared with
reference projective invariants for a plurality of landmarks stored in a
predetermined data storage area in the form of a hash table, thereby
determining which landmark corresponds to the landmark image. Then,
information on the distance and orientation of the determined landmark
with respect to the autonomous vehicle is analyzed in response to the
first and second outer line information.