Vehicle Sensor Calibration Using Marker and Structural Feature Poses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle sensor calibration methods are complex and prone to errors, especially when calibrating multiple sensors across different vehicles, often requiring mechanical aids like guide rails or rollers, and are difficult to execute without suitable orientation points.
Innovation Solution
A method involving scanning a marker and a structural feature of the vehicle using a sensor device, determining poses between these elements, and combining them to calibrate the vehicle sensor without mechanical movement, ensuring consistent and error-free calibration across multiple vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a guide rail or roller is used to assist the first step of determining the pose of the motor vehicle, then the pose determination becomes easier, but the device complexity and ease of manufacture worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex mechanical assistance systems (guide rails, rollers) from the calibration setup and replaces them with a simplified marker-based approach. The vehicle determines its own pose relative to markers in the environment without requiring external mechanical guidance structures, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical systems (guide rails, rollers) with an optical/computer vision system using markers and sensor devices. Instead of mechanical assistance for pose determination, the system uses image processing and coordinate transformation algorithms to achieve the same goal with fewer physical components.
2Measurement precision
If markers and sensor devices are fixedly mounted and oriented in relation to an invariable system, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the marker and sensor device serve multiple functions: the marker provides both a visual target for pose estimation and a reference for calibration, while the sensor device performs both scanning of the marker and scanning of vehicle structural features. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components, lowering device complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
3Ease of operation
If the vehicle is moved in relation to the sensor device between scanning the marker and scanning the structural feature, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary scanning of the marker to establish the vehicle's initial pose and orientation before scanning the structural features. This preliminary action allows the system to compensate for vehicle movement during the calibration process through coordinate transformations, maintaining measurement precision while allowing operational flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from the marker scan results to adjust and refine the pose estimation during the structural feature scanning process. By continuously referencing the known marker position and transforming coordinates accordingly, the system compensates for any vehicle movement, maintaining precision despite operational ease.
Data Source
AI summary
A method (200) for calibrating a vehicle sensor (105) mounted on a vehicle (110) includes: scanning a marker (120) in the area of the vehicle sensor (105) by a sensor device (115); determining a first pose of the marker (120) in relation to the sensor device (115); scanning a structural feature (140) of the vehicle (110) by the sensor device (115); determining a second pose of the vehicle (110) in relation to the sensor device (115); and determining a third pose of the marker (120) in relation to the vehicle (110) on the basis of the first pose and the second pose.