IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,614,400
Granted Patent B2
US 12,614,400 · App. 18/312,895 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Computer-implemented automatic annotation of a LiDAR point cloud

Inventors: Amani Alonazi (Jeddah, SA); Charles A. Erignac (Kirkland, WA)
Assignee: The Boeing Company
G06V20/70G06V20/17
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,614,400
App. No.
18/312,895
Granted
Apr 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Examples are disclosed that relate an approach for automatically annotating a LiDAR point cloud of an airport with classification labels. In one example, a computing device comprises one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in memory to receive LiDAR data for an airport environment, wherein the LiDAR data includes a LiDAR point cloud including a plurality of points in the airport environment, segment the LiDAR point cloud into a ground region and a non-ground region, automatically cluster, via a trained machine learning model, different points in the non-ground region into a plurality of non-ground segments, automatically annotate, via the trained machine learning model, the plurality of non-ground segments with classification labels selected from an airport domain, and output a panoptic labeled LiDAR point cloud including the plurality of non-ground segments labeled with respective classification labels and the points in the ground region.

Claims (47)

1 . A computing device, comprising:

one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in memory to:

receive laser imaging detection and ranging (LiDAR) data for an airport environment, wherein the LiDAR data includes a LiDAR point cloud including a plurality of points in the airport environment;

segment the LiDAR point cloud into a ground region and a non-ground region;

automatically cluster, via a trained machine learning model, different points in the non-ground region into a plurality of non-ground segments;

automatically annotate, via the trained machine learning model, the plurality of non-ground segments with classification labels selected from an airport domain, wherein the airport domain includes a library of classification labels corresponding to airport-related objects; and

output a labeled LiDAR point cloud including the plurality of non-ground segments labeled with respective classification labels and the points in the ground region.

2 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the LiDAR point cloud includes points in the airport environment accumulated from a plurality of scans of one or more LiDAR devices.

3 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the LiDAR data is received from one or more aircraft-mounted LiDAR devices.

4 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein each point included in the LiDAR point cloud includes X, Y, and Z coordinates and an intensity value.

5 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the classification labels include dynamic semantic labels for movable objects and non-dynamic semantic labels for fixed objects.

6 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in memory to generate a plurality of masks corresponding to the plurality of non-ground segments, and wherein the labeled LiDAR point cloud includes the plurality of masks.

7 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in memory to:

annotate each of the plurality of non-ground segments with an individualized identifier.

8 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in memory to:

receive one or more images of the airport environment captured by one or more cameras; and

automatically annotate a plurality of objects in the one or more images with classification labels corresponding to the plurality of non-ground segments in the labeled LiDAR point cloud.

9 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the labeled LiDAR point cloud is included in a set of training data, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in memory to re-train the trained machine learning model based at least on the set of training data.

10 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving LiDAR data for an airport environment, wherein the LiDAR data includes a LiDAR point cloud including a plurality of points in the airport environment;

segmenting the LiDAR point cloud into a ground region and a non-ground region;

automatically clustering, via a trained machine learning model, different points in the non-ground region into a plurality of non-ground segments;

automatically labeling, via the trained machine learning model, the plurality of non-ground segments with classification labels selected from an airport domain, wherein the classification labels include dynamic semantic labels for movable objects and non-dynamic semantic labels for fixed objects; and

outputting a labeled LiDAR point cloud including the plurality of non-ground segments labeled with respective classification labels and the points in the ground region.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

generating a plurality of masks corresponding to the plurality of non-ground segments, and wherein the labeled LiDAR point cloud includes the plurality of masks.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

annotating via the trained machine learning model, each of the plurality of non-ground segments with an individualized identifier.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving one or more images of the airport environment captured by one or more cameras; and

automatically annotating a plurality of objects in the one or more images with classification labels corresponding to the plurality of non-ground segments in the labeled LiDAR point cloud.

14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the labeled LiDAR point cloud is included in a set of training data, and wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises re-training the trained machine learning model based at least on the set of training data.

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the LiDAR point cloud includes points in the airport environment accumulated from a plurality of scans of one or more LiDAR devices.

16 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein at least some of the LiDAR data is received from one or more aircraft-mounted LiDAR devices.

17 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the airport domain includes a library of classification labels corresponding to airport-related objects.

18 . A computing device, comprising:

one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in memory to:

receive laser imaging detection and ranging (LiDAR) data for an airport environment, wherein the LiDAR data includes a LiDAR point cloud including a plurality of points in the airport environment;

segment the LiDAR point cloud into a ground region and a non-ground region;

automatically cluster, via a trained machine learning model, different points in the non-ground region into a plurality of non-ground segments;

automatically annotate, via the trained machine learning model, the plurality of non-ground segments with classification labels selected from an airport domain;

output a labeled LiDAR point cloud including the plurality of non-ground segments labeled with respective classification labels and the points in the ground region;

receive one or more images of the airport environment captured by one or more cameras; and

automatically annotate a plurality of objects in the one or more images with classification labels corresponding to the plurality of non-ground segments in the labeled LiDAR point cloud.

19 . The computing device of claim 18 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in memory to:

automatically annotate each of the plurality of non-ground segments with an individualized identifier.

20 . The computing device of claim 18 , wherein the classification labels include dynamic semantic labels for movable objects and non-dynamic semantic labels for fixed objects.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 5, 2023
From: ALONAZI, AMANI; ERIGNAC, CHARLES A.
To: THE BOEING COMPANY
Reel/Frame 063553/0100 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240371186A1 · Nov 7, 2024
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