IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,529,089
Granted Patent B2
US 10,529,089 · App. 15/903,616 · Granted Jan 7, 2020

Crowd-sensed point cloud map

Inventors: Fawad Ahmad (Los Angeles, CA); Hang Qiu (Los Angeles, CA); Fan Bai (Ann Arbor, MI); Ramesh Govindan (Cerritos, CA)
Assignees: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC; UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
G06T7/74G05D1/0246G05D1/0274G06T7/337G05D2201/0213G06T2207/10028G06T2207/20221G06T2207/30248
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,529,089
App. No.
15/903,616
Granted
Jan 7, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and method are provided for controlling an autonomous vehicle. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving sensor data from a sensor of the vehicle; determining a three dimensional point cloud map segment from the sensor data; determining a vehicle pose associated with the three-dimensional point cloud map segment; determining a pose difference based on the vehicle pose, another vehicle pose, and a two-step process, wherein the two-step process includes computing a coarse-granularity pose difference, and computing a fine-granularity pose difference; aligning the three dimensional point cloud map segment with another three dimensional point cloud map segment associated with the other vehicle pose based on the pose difference; and controlling the vehicle based on the aligned three dimensional point cloud map segments.

Claims (32)

1. A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

receiving sensor data from a sensor of the vehicle;

determining a three dimensional point cloud map segment from the sensor data;

determining a vehicle pose associated with the three-dimensional point cloud map segment;

determining a pose difference based on the vehicle pose, another vehicle pose, and a two-step process, wherein the two-step process includes computing a coarse-granularity pose difference, and computing a fine-granularity pose difference;

aligning the three dimensional point cloud map segment with another three dimensional point cloud map segment associated with the other vehicle pose based on the pose difference; and

controlling the vehicle based on the aligned three dimensional point cloud map segments.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coarse-granularity pose difference is computed based on a mean square error between two trajectories.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the fine-granularity pose difference is computed based on an image-plane re-projection error minimization method.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining transformation data based on an iterative closest point convergence method using the fine-granularity pose difference, and wherein the aligning is based on the transformation data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the vehicle pose is based on a two dimensional feature set from the sensor data, a three dimensional point cloud associated with the two dimensional feature set, and an image-plane re-projection error minimization method.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the two dimensional feature set is associated with static features, and wherein the three dimensional point cloud is associated with static features.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the vehicle pose is based on a first two dimensional feature set from the sensor data, a second two dimensional feature set from the sensor data, a first three dimensional point cloud associated with the first two dimensional feature set, a second three dimensional point cloud associated with the second two dimensional feature set, and an image-plane re-projection error minimization method.

8. The method of claim 7 , where the first two dimensional feature set is associated with static features, wherein the first three dimensional point cloud is associated with static features, wherein the second two dimensional feature set is associated with dynamic features, and wherein the second three dimensional point cloud is associated with dynamic features.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising merging features of the aligned three dimensional point cloud map segments based on a confidence of the feature.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the merging the features is further based on a multi-partite matching method.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising localizing the vehicle based on the aligned three dimensional point cloud map segments and a mutli-partite matching method.

12. A computer-implemented system for controlling an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:

a map segment generation module configured to receive sensor data from a sensor of the vehicle, and determine a three dimensional point cloud map segment from the sensor data;

a pose determination module configured to determine a vehicle pose associated with the three-dimensional map segment;

a pose difference determination module configured to determine a pose difference based on the vehicle pose, another vehicle pose, and a two-step process, wherein the two-step process includes computing a coarse-granularity pose difference, and computing a fine-granularity pose difference;

an alignment module configured to align the three dimensional point cloud map segment with another three dimensional map segment associated with the other vehicle pose based on the pose difference; and

a control module configured to control the vehicle based on the aligned three dimensional point cloud map segments.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the coarse-granularity pose difference is computed based on a mean square error between two trajectories.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the fine-granularity pose difference is computed based on an image-plane re-projection error minimization method.

15. The system of claim 14 , further comprising a reference system transformation module configured to determine transformation data based on an iterative closest point convergence method using the fine-granularity pose difference, and wherein the alignment module aligns the three dimensional point cloud map based on the transformation data.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein pose determination module determines the vehicle pose based on a two dimensional feature set from the sensor data, a three dimensional point cloud associated with the two dimensional feature set, and an image-plane re-projection error minimization method.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the two dimensional feature set is associated with static features, and wherein the three dimensional point cloud is associated with static features.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the pose determination module is configured to determine the vehicle pose based on a first two dimensional feature set from the sensor data, a second two dimensional feature set from the sensor data, a first three dimensional point cloud associated with the first two dimensional feature set, a second three dimensional point cloud associated with the second two dimensional feature set, and an image-plane re-projection error minimization method.

19. The system of claim 12 , where the first two dimensional feature set is associated with static features, wherein the first three dimensional point cloud is associated with static features, wherein the second two dimensional feature set is associated with dynamic features, and wherein the second three dimensional point cloud is associated with dynamic features.

20. The system of claim 12 , wherein the alignment module is configured to merge features of the aligned three dimensional map segments based on a confidence of the feature and a multi-partite matching method.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 23, 2018
From: AHMAD, FAWAD; BAI, FAN
To: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 045019/0819 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 23, 2018
From: QIU, HANG; GOVINDAN, RAMESH
To: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Reel/Frame 045019/0934 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190266748A1 · Aug 29, 2019
Cited By (3)
US 12,270,661 US 12,276,516 US 12,352,592