Removable automotive LIDAR data collection POD

A system comprising one or more processors and memory operably coupled with the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores instructions that, in repose to execution of the instructions by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps, comprising:

• receiving environmental data from a plurality of sensors of a removable pod attached to a vehicle in an environment using a pod mount, wherein the plurality of sensors includes at least an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a three dimension (3D) positioning sensor, a camera, and a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) unit, the vehicle being a non-autonomous vehicle;
• receiving vehicle data from a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, wherein the removable pod is connected to the CAN bus;
• recording, using a computing device connected to the removable pod, the combined environmental data and the vehicle data;
• determining, using the computing device, time stamps for each instance of the environmental data and time stamps for each instance of the vehicle data recorded by the computing device;
• and
• transmitting, using the computing device, an aggregation of the time stamped instances of environmental data and the time stamped instances of vehicle data to a remote server;
• wherein the non-autonomous vehicle is collecting data in the same area with an autonomous vehicle.

A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, that, when executed by one or more processors cause the one or processors to perform the steps comprising:

• receiving environmental data from a plurality of sensors of a removable pod attached to a vehicle in an environment using a pod mount, wherein the plurality of sensors includes at least an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a three dimension (3D) positioning sensor, a camera, and a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) unit, the vehicle being a non-autonomous vehicle;
• receiving vehicle data from a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, wherein the removable pod is connected to the CAN bus;
• recording, using a computing device connected to the removable pod, the combined environmental data and the vehicle data;
• determining, using the computing device, time stamps for each instance of the environmental data and time stamps for each instance of the vehicle data recorded by the computing device;
• and
• transmitting, using the computing device, an aggregation of the time stamped instances of environmental data and the time stamped instances of vehicle data to a remote server;
• wherein the non-autonomous vehicle is collecting data in the same area with an autonomous vehicle.

A method of scalable vehicle data collection, the method comprising:

• receiving environmental data from a plurality of sensors of a removable pod attached to a vehicle in an environment using a pod mount, wherein the plurality of sensors includes at least an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a three dimension (3D) positioning sensor, a camera, and a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) unit;
• receiving vehicle data from a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, wherein the removable pod is connected to the CAN bus;
• recording, using a computing device connected to the removable pod, the combined environmental data and the vehicle data;
• determining, using the computing device, time stamps for each instance of the environmental data and time stamps for each instance of the vehicle data recorded by the computing device;
• transmitting, using the computing device, an aggregation of the time stamped instances of environmental data and the time stamped instances of vehicle data to a remote server;
• and,
• wherein a plurality of removable pods are attached to a plurality of non-autonomous vehicles, and the plurality of removable pods receive environmental data in the same environment.

A method of scalable vehicle data collection, the method comprising:

• receiving environmental data from a plurality of sensors of a removable pod attached to a vehicle in an environment using a pod mount, wherein the plurality of sensors includes at least an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a three dimension (3D) positioning sensor, a camera, and a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) unit;
• receiving vehicle data from a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, wherein the removable pod is connected to the CAN bus;
• recording, using a computing device connected to the removable pod, the combined environmental data and the vehicle data;
• determining, using the computing device, time stamps for each instance of the environmental data and time stamps for each instance of the vehicle data recorded by the computing device;
• transmitting, using the computing device, an aggregation of the time stamped instances of environmental data and the time stamped instances of vehicle data to a remote server;
• and,
• wherein transmitting the time stamped instances of environmental data and the time stamped instances to the remote server of vehicle data for plurality of removable pods attached to a plurality of non-autonomous vehicles further comprises:
• storing the time stamped instances of environmental data and time stamped instances of vehicle data for the plurality of removable pods on the remote server;
• and
• determining an aggregation of the stored time stamped instances of environmental data and the time stamped instances of vehicle data for each removable pod in the plurality of removable pods.