Calibration of laser and vision sensors

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 operations, the operations comprising:

• obtaining observation data generated by at least one vision sensor, wherein the observation data corresponds to a time period;
• evaluating states associated with a laser unit at different points in time within the time period based at least on the observation data;
• determining one or more transformation rules for transforming between one or more reference systems and a target reference system associated with the laser unit, wherein the one or more reference systems are associated with the laser unit at the different points in time within the time period, and the target reference system is associated with the laser unit at a target point in time within the time period;
• transforming data obtained by the laser unit based at least on the one or more transformation rules to the target reference system, the data obtained by the laser unit corresponding to the different points in time within the time period;
• and
• generating a point cloud using at least a portion of the transformed data, wherein in circumstances where an excessive noise or a data error is detected by the at least one vision sensor at a specific point in time within the time period, the point cloud is generated by excluding a subset of the data obtained via the laser unit at the specific point in time or by excluding a subset of the transformed data associated with the specific point in time.

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 to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• obtaining observation data generated by at least one vision sensor, wherein the observation data corresponds to a time period;
• evaluating states associated with a laser unit at different points in time within the time period based at least on the observation data;
• determining one or more transformation rules for transforming between one or more reference systems and a target reference system associated with the laser unit, wherein the one or more reference systems are associated with the laser unit at the different points in time within the time period and the target reference system is associated with the laser unit at a target point in time within the time period;
• transforming data obtained by the laser unit based at least on the one or more transformation rules to the target reference system, the data obtained by the laser unit corresponding to the different points in time within the time period;
• and
• generating a point cloud using at least a portion of the transformed data, wherein in circumstances where an excessive noise or a data error is detected by the at least one vision sensor at a specific point in time within the time period, the point cloud is generated by excluding a subset of the data obtained via the laser unit at the specific point in time or by excluding a subset of the transformed data associated with the specific point in time.

An apparatus for detecting objects in an environment, the apparatus comprising:

• a laser unit;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the laser unit, the one or more processors configured to:
• obtain observation data generated by at least one vision sensor, wherein the observation data corresponds to a time period;
• evaluate states associated with the laser unit at different points in time within the time period based at least on the observation data;
• determine one or more transformation rules for transforming between one or more reference systems and a target reference system associated with the laser unit, wherein the one or more reference systems are associated with the laser unit at the different points in time within the time period and the target reference system is associated with the laser unit at a target point in time within the time period;
• transform data obtained by the laser unit based at least on the one or more transformation rules to the target reference system, the data obtained by the laser unit corresponding to the different points in time within the time period;
• and
• generate a point cloud for detecting objects in the environment using at least a portion of the transformed data, wherein in circumstances where an excessive noise or a data error is detected by the at least one vision sensor at a specific point in time within the time period, the point cloud is generated by excluding a subset of the data obtained via the laser unit at the specific point in time or by excluding a subset of the transformed data associated with the specific point in time.