IP Library Granted Patent US 11,363,192
Granted Patent B2
US 11,363,192 · App. 16/561,617 · Granted Jun 14, 2022

Method, and apparatus for clock synchronization, device, storage medium and vehicle

Inventors: Yuanfan Xie (Beijing, CN); Xun Zhou (Beijing, CN); Shirui Li (Beijing, CN); Liang Wang (Beijing, CN)
Assignee: Apollo Intelligent Driving Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
H04N5/23227G06T7/70G06T7/80
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,363,192
App. No.
16/561,617
Granted
Jun 14, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and an apparatus for clock synchronization, a device, a storage medium and a vehicle. The method includes: determining a first pose change of an image acquirer with respect to a reference coordinate system at different image acquisition time points; determining a second pose change of a calibration acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at different corrected image acquisition time points, in which, the different corrected image acquisition correction time points are determined according to the different image acquisition time points and each predetermined correction time variable; and performing a clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to the each correction time variable.

Claims (62)

1. A method for clock synchronization, comprising:

determining a first pose change of an image acquirer with respect to a reference coordinate system at different image acquisition time points;

determining a second pose change of a calibration acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at different corrected image acquisition time points, wherein, the different corrected image acquisition time points are determined according to the different image acquisition time points and each predetermined correction time variable; and

performing a clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to each correction time variable,

wherein performing the clock synchronization for the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to each correction time variable comprises:

determining a pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to the each correction time variable;

minimizing the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable, and determining a minimum value of the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable; and

performing the clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the minimum value of the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to the each correction time variable comprises:

constructing the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to a formula of:

F =Σ∥log(Δ R −1 ΔR ′)∥+∥Δ T×ΔT′∥;

wherein, F represents the pose change cost function, (ΔR, ΔT) represents the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points of t 1 , t 2 , (ΔR′,ΔT′) represents the second pose change of the calibration acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different corrected image acquisition time points of t 1 +dt, t 2 +dt, dt represents the correction time variable, Σ represents a summation operator, and × represents a cross product operator.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the minimum value of the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable comprises:

selecting a minimal value from the minimum values of the pose change cost functions corresponding to respective correction time variables; and

determining the correction time variable corresponding to the minimal value selected as a time difference between the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein in response to the coordinate system of the calibration acquirer being determined as the reference coordinate system, determining the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points comprises:

determining a third pose change of the image acquirer with respect to a coordinate system of the image acquirer at the different image acquisition time points; and

determining the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points according to the third pose change and a relative pose between the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer.

5. An apparatus for clock synchronization, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, configured to store software modules executable by the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to perform a method for clock synchronization by reading the software modules stored in the memory, the method comprising:

determining a first pose change of an image acquirer with respect to a reference coordinate system at different image acquisition time points;

determining a second pose change of a calibration acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at different corrected image acquisition time points, wherein, the different corrected image acquisition time points are determined according to the different image acquisition time points and each predetermined correction time variable; and

performing a clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to each correction time variable,

wherein performing the clock synchronization for the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to each correction time variable comprises:

determining a pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to the each correction time variable;

minimizing the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable, and determining a minimum value of the post change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable; and

performing the clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the minimum value of the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein determining the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to the each correction time variable comprises:

constructing the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to a formula of:

F =Σ∥log(Δ R −1 ΔR ′)∥+∥Δ T×ΔT′∥;

wherein, F represents the pose change cost function, (ΔR,ΔT) represents the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points of t 1 , t 2 , (ΔR′,ΔT′) represents the second pose change of the calibration acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different corrected image acquisition time points of t 1 +dt, t 2 +dt, dt represents the correction time variable, Σ represents a summation operator, and × represents a cross product operator.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein performing the clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the minimum value of the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable comprises:

selecting a minimal value from the minimum values of the pose change cost functions corresponding to respective correction time variables; and

determining the correction time variable corresponding to the minimal value selected as a time difference between the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein in response to a coordinate system of the calibration acquirer being determined as the reference coordinate system, determining the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points comprises:

determining a third pose change of the image acquirer with respect to a coordinate system of the image acquirer at the different image acquisition time points; and

determining the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points according to the third pose change and a relative pose between the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer.

9. A vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle body,

an image acquirer, provided on the vehicle body;

a calibration acquirer, provided on the vehicle body; and

a computer device, in a communication connection with the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer respectively, and configured to:

determine a first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to a reference coordinate system at different image acquisition time points;

determine a second pose change of the calibration acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at different corrected image acquisition time points, wherein, the different corrected image acquisition time points are determined according to the different image acquisition time points and each predetermined correction time variable; and

performing a clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to each correction time variable,

wherein the computer device is configured to:

determine a pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to the first pose change of the image acquirer and the second pose change of the calibration acquirer corresponding to the each correction time variable;

minimize the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable, and determining a minimum value of the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable; and

perform the clock synchronization on the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer according to the minimum value of the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable.

10. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the computer device is configured to:

construct the pose change cost function corresponding to the each correction time variable according to a formula of:

F =Σ∥log(Δ R −1 ΔR ′)∥+∥Δ T×ΔT′∥;

wherein, F represents the pose change cost function, (ΔR,ΔT) represents the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points of t 1 , t 2 , (ΔR′,ΔT′) represents the second pose change of the calibration acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different corrected image acquisition time points of t 1 +dt, t 2 +dt, dt represents the correction time variable, Σ represents a summation operator, and × represents a cross product operator.

11. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the computer device is configured to:

select a minimal value from the minimum values of the pose change cost functions corresponding to respective correction time variables; and

determine the correction time variable corresponding to the minimal value selected as a time difference between the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer.

12. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein in response to the coordinate system of the calibration acquirer being determined as the reference coordinate system, the computer device is configured to:

determine a third pose change of the image acquirer with respect to a coordinate system of the image acquirer at the different image acquisition time points; and

determine the first pose change of the image acquirer with respect to the reference coordinate system at the different image acquisition time points according to the third pose change and a relative pose between the image acquirer and the calibration acquirer.

13. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the calibration acquirer is an inertial navigation device, a laser radar, a millimeter wave radar or other image acquirer.

Assignments (3)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE APPLICANT NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 057933 FRAME: 0812. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Dec 28, 2021
From: BAIDU ONLINE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
To: APOLLO INTELLIGENT DRIVING TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 058594/0836 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 13, 2021
From: BAIDU ONLINE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
To: APOLLO INTELLIGENT DRIVING (BEIJING) TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 057933/0812 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 19, 2019
From: XIE, YUANFAN; ZHOU, XUN; LI, SHIRUI; WANG, LIANG
To: BAIDU ONLINE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 051328/0151 →
Priority Claims (1)
CN 201811044823.9 · Sep 7, 2018 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200084372A1 · Mar 12, 2020