Calibration of laser sensors
AssigneeSz Dji Technology Co., Ltd.
InventorsKanzhi Wu, Lu Ma
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Automatic calibration of laser sensors carried by a mobile platform, and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. A representative method includes determining an overlapping region of point cloud data generated by laser sensors, comparing surface features of the point clouds within the overlapping region, and generating calibration rules based thereon.
Claims28
A computer-implemented method for calibrating a first laser unit and a second laser unit both affixed to a common autonomous car, comprising:
- transforming point cloud information obtained from the first laser unit into a first point cloud in a coordinate system associated with the autonomous car based at least in part on a first transformation matrix, the first transformation matrix defined at least in part by a position and orientation of the first laser unit relative to the autonomous car;
- transforming point cloud information obtained from the second laser unit into a second point cloud in the coordinate system associated with the autonomous car based at least in part on a second transformation matrix, the second transformation matrix defined at least in part by a position and orientation of the second laser unit relative to the autonomous car;
- determining an overlapping region between the first and second point clouds based at least in part on paired points between the first and second point clouds, wherein the paired points include at least a nearest neighbor in the second point cloud for at least one point in the first point cloud;
- deriving a plurality of first features that at least partially characterize a surface of the first point cloud in the overlapping region;
- deriving a plurality of second features that at least partially characterize a surface of the second point cloud in the overlapping region;
- generating at least one calibration rule for calibration between the first and second laser units based at least in part on evaluating a function that includes at least the first and second features, wherein the at least one calibration rule includes at least one of a translational transformation or a rotational transformation;
- and
- causing calibration between the first and second laser units based on the at least one calibration rule.
A computer-implemented method for calibrating at least a first emitter/detector unit and a second emitter/detector unit both carried by a common mobile platform, comprising:
- transforming point cloud information obtained from the first emitter/detector unit into a first point cloud in a reference system associated with the mobile platform;
- transforming point cloud information obtained from the second emitter/detector unit into a second point cloud in the reference system associated with the mobile platform;
- determining an overlapping region between the first and second point clouds based at least in part on identifying at least a nearest neighbor in the second point cloud for at least one point in the first point cloud;
- comparing surface attributes of the first and second point clouds in the overlapping region;
- and
- generating at least one calibration rule for calibration between the first and second emitter/detector units based at least in part on comparing the surface attributes, wherein the at least one calibration rule includes at least one of a translational transformation or a rotational transformation.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors associated with a mobile platform to perform actions comprising:
- transforming point cloud information obtained from a first emitter/detector unit into a first point cloud in a reference system associated with the mobile platform;
- transforming point cloud information obtained from a second emitter/detector unit into a second point cloud in the reference system associated with the mobile platform;
- determining an overlapping region between the first and second point clouds based at least in part on identifying at least a nearest neighbor in the second point cloud for at least one point in the first point cloud;
- comparing surface attributes of the first and second point clouds in the overlapping region;
- and
- generating at least one calibration rule for calibration between the first and second emitter/detector units based at least in part on comparing the surface attributes, wherein the at least one calibration rule includes at least one of translational transformation or a rotational transformation.
A vehicle including a programmed controller that at least partially controls one or more motions of the vehicle, wherein the programmed controller includes one or more processors configured to:
- transform point cloud information obtained from a first emitter/detector unit into a first point cloud in a reference system associated with the vehicle;
- transform point cloud information obtained from a second emitter/detector unit into a second point cloud in the reference system associated with the vehicle;
- determine an overlapping region between the first and second point clouds based at least in part on identifying at least a nearest neighbor in the second point cloud for at least one point in the first point cloud;
- compare surface attributes of the first and second point clouds in the overlapping region;
- and
- generate at least one calibration rule for calibration between the first and second emitter/detector units based at least in part on the comparison of surface attributes, wherein the at least one calibration rule includes at least one of a translational transformation or a rotational transformation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.