Vehicle Ground Profile Estimation Under Reflective Sensor Noise
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in accurately differentiating between ground and objects due to inaccurate sensor data, particularly from reflective materials like glass and metal, which can lead to unsafe navigation scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A trajectory verification system that employs a secondary perception component to classify sensor data as ground or object, using techniques such as M-estimators and machine-learning models, and corrects ground profiles by excluding data points causing aberrations, thereby validating trajectories and preventing collisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If sensor data from reflective materials (glass, metal) is used for ground detection, then the quantity of sensor data increases, but measurement precision deteriorates due to multi-path reflections causing aberrations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes inaccurate sensor data points caused by multi-path reflections from the dataset. The system identifies aberrations in sensor data and excludes these problematic points before generating the ground profile, thereby eliminating the harmful reflective data while preserving valid ground detection information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing step between raw sensor data collection and ground profile generation. This intermediary component analyzes sensor data for aberrations, identifies multi-path reflection artifacts, and filters them out, serving as a mediator that reconciles the conflict between data quantity and measurement precision.
2Reliability
If multiple sensors are used to improve detection reliability, then reliability improves, but device complexity increases due to multiple sensors and processing systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sensor inputs into a unified ground profile generation process. By combining data from multiple sensors and processing them through a single aberration detection and filtering system, the patent achieves reliable detection while avoiding the complexity of completely separate processing chains for each sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal processing system that handles data from multiple sensor types through a single aberration detection and ground profile generation mechanism. This multi-functional approach allows the same processing logic to work across different sensor inputs, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliability.
3Productivity
If ground profile is generated using all sensor data points, then productivity increases, but measurement precision decreases due to inclusion of inaccurate data points from reflections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by detecting and flagging aberrations in sensor data before the ground profile generation process. By identifying problematic data points in advance and excluding them from the profile generation, the system maintains high productivity while ensuring accuracy, as the filtering happens efficiently in a pre-processing stage rather than requiring iterative corrections.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for estimating a ground profile, including a ground height (e.g., elevation) and ground roll, for an environment associated with a vehicle are described herein. Sensor data associated with a vehicle may be used to determine sensor data points associated with a path of the vehicle. Based on an upper bound slope and lower bound slope, such as a maximum and/or minimum rate of ground roll change, a region (e.g., search window) may be determined. Based on the region, a subset of sensor data points included in the region may be determined. The subset of sensor data points may be used to determine a representative height and representative roll. In some instances, the representative height and representative roll may be determined using a Hough transform and the subset of sensor data points. A ground profile may be determined based on the representative height and representative roll.