LIDAR Intensity Map Correction for Blooming-Blind Object Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
LIDAR sensors experience blooming effects from highly reflective targets, leading to temporary blindness and inaccurate detection of surrounding objects, especially in autonomous vehicles, which can cause hazardous situations.
Innovation Solution
A method that generates a two-dimensional intensity distribution, corrects for blooming signals by identifying and removing them, and analyzes the corrected distribution for supplementary object detection using homogeneity analysis and size comparison with known objects to determine distances of undetected objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If parallelization of measurements is implemented using vertical laser strip illumination and vertical detector array, then measuring time is greatly reduced and high point rates are achieved, but the LIDAR sensor becomes more strongly susceptible to crosstalk (blooming) of optical signals within a column
Solution Approach 1:
The detector array is divided into multiple independent columns, each capable of autonomous evaluation. This segmentation allows the system to identify and isolate blooming effects in affected columns without compromising the detection capability of other columns, thereby maintaining high measuring rates while improving reliability through localized error correction
Solution Approach 2:
A control unit acts as an intermediary that coordinates between the parallel measurement channels and the central processing. It manages the autonomous evaluation of each column, implements correction algorithms for blooming effects, and integrates the results from all columns to produce accurate distance measurements while maintaining high productivity
2Measurement precision
If high signal intensity is used to detect reflective targets, then detection capability is improved, but blooming effects occur due to scattering processes and charge travel between pixels, causing temporary blindness
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the harmful blooming signals into useful information by analyzing their characteristic patterns. The control unit identifies blooming effects through specific evaluation criteria and uses this information to correct the distorted measurements, thereby transforming the harmful high signal intensity into an opportunity for enhanced detection accuracy through intelligent correction
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous evaluation of each detector column provides feedback to the control unit about the presence and severity of blooming effects. This feedback mechanism enables real-time adjustment and correction of measurements, allowing the system to maintain high detection sensitivity while compensating for blooming-induced errors through iterative refinement
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances redundant object recognition, preventing temporary blindness and improving safety by allowing timely detection of obstacles without additional sensors, thereby enhancing the reliability of LIDAR systems in autonomous vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
LIDAR system being configured to scan a solid angle range in order to carry out a primary distance determination method for surroundings objects, the LIDAR system including at least one emitter unit and at least one detector unit, and the emitter unit emitting at least one laser beam
Implementation Method 2
the laser light reflected from surrounding objects being received by the detector unit in order to ascertain the distance and the position of surrounding objects
Data Source
AI summary
A method for the supplementary detection of objects by a LIDAR system. The LIDAR system is configured to scan a solid angle range to carry out a primary distance determination method for surroundings objects. An emitter unit emits at least one laser beam in a solid angle strip of the solid angle range, laser light reflected from surroundings objects being received by a detector unit to ascertain the distance and the position of surroundings objects with the aid of the primary distance determination method. The method includes: scanning the entire solid angle range and subsequently generating a two-dimensional intensity distribution of the detected signal light. This is followed by generating a corrected two-dimensional intensity distribution by removing blooming signals and analyzing the corrected two-dimensional intensity distribution for the supplementary detection of surroundings objects in addition to the primary distance determination method.